Giggles

Bag of bones...

I had a moment the other day. A new case had come into the lab and I was setting it up on the examination table. As I pulled out each bone from it's corresponding bag I was getting genuinely more and more excited. Even though the bones were in small fragments I could recognize most of them as well determine the sex of the individual and relative age. At this moment I came to realize that this was so cool! I really love what I'm doing!

I'm also learning how to take radiographs. One of the jobs of a forensic anthropologist is to be able to compare an antemortem (before death) x-ray to a postmortem (after death) x-ray of the same bone or bones. Our department is lucky enough to have a x-ray machine and developer so we get to practice producing the postmortem radiographs ourselves. It is a tedious process trying to get them just right but very satisfying in the end. Sometimes I'm tempted to try to take an x-ray of my own arm or something but then I realize I would probably end up burning myself with radiation. Not a good idea!

On a side note Connor woke up last night at about 12:30am just screaming. We could not figure out why this happened until today. One of his maxillary incisors (top front teeth) are poking through! Our little boy is growing up so fast!

And the rain, rain, rain came down, down, down...

Can you tell we have been watching the classic Winnie the Pooh cartoons? Anyway...It has been raining non-stop now for a day and a half. This would be a regular occurrence in Seattle but something entirely different here in Michigan. They have put our county under a flood warning and we may even get the last remnants of hurricane Ike here in the next few days...oh boy.

Well Noel's short trip to Michigan has come and gone and she is now a resident of Bellingham, Washington. I'm so proud of her! Going away to college for the first time isn't an easy thing. Not to mention the fact that our parents are also moving...yep...you heard me right. After 21 years this part of the Lawrence family will no longer be living in the Bremerton/Poulsbo area. My Dad is now the President of a school near Mt. Shasta in Northern California. We are so proud of him. This is something he has worked so hard for! Go Dad!

It is the strangest feeling, however, that my parents are no longer living in the place I grew up. In some ways it feels like having a foundation ripped out from underneath you, but in a good way. This is the perfect opportunity to begin focusing on the future and preparing to raise a toddler. I will close with the wise words of Buzz Light Year..."To infinity and beyond!" =)

One tired momma...

I'm only a week into school and I'm already pooped! I'm taking osteology this semester which is pretty much the "bread and butter" of Forensic Anthropology so I can't just procrastinate my way through it. Not that I would want to anyway. Even though I have taken several classes on Forensic Anthropology I had no idea what a dynamic organ bone really is. Not only is it used for support and protection of organs but bone acts as a mineral reservoir, a defense against acidosis, traps dangerous chemicals and produces blood cells. Really interesting stuff!

Learning to balance school and home life, however, is going to be my hardest challenge. B.C. (before Connor) I could put things off and study whenever I felt like it. Now I have to come up with a plan and stick to it. I have to do a little bit everyday to get it all done. I'll probably learn more and retain more this way anyway.

Speaking of Connor, he's doing great. He is now eating little pieces of cheese and cantaloupe along with chicken and yogurt. We can tell he is getting ready to start crawling because he rocks back and forth while sitting up. Most of the time this ends up with him face planting into the ground but he's slowly getting the idea. He's also sleeping anywhere from 10-12 hours a night! He does throw fits now too. His favorite toys are these rubber duckies that his Oma and Noel bought for him and if you dare to take them away from him...watch out!

Tom continues his job search and actually has some pretty good prospects. Noel is also here for the next 10 days...I'm not going to let her go home. She is such a great aunt and such a great help!

Well that's all for now. I'm off to bed. I hope you all have a wonderful week.