Yep,

I’ve now officially lived in Ukraine for 4 years. As of yesterday.

My experience here is nearing its end. I’ve done my time, I’ve taken a needed break from the bench, I’ve officially left academia, I’ve done my time (oops, I said that twice), I’ve had two children, I’ve gone to business school, I’ve taken a demanding job that has taught me LOTS about business… AND I’ve served my country in a way that few scientists get to do. Shoot… I don’t think I’ve every mentioned my background. Interesting.

I’m not going to lie – it has also been quite stressful. More gray hairs than I’d like to admit to. Definitely not half as much sleep as I was getting in college – including those all-night study sessions. I guess I’m looking for less stress in my life – and more time to do what I want to do, where I want to do it. The Freedom that America offers is truly unparalleled in this world. I have new perspective. HUGE perspective.

All this said… I’m definitely ready for the next chapter in my life. Big risk… with hopefully a BIG reward. Not only monetarily, but spiritually, emotionally, and developmentally. Yes… I’m in my forties and feel like I’m still just a kid sometimes. I’ve got lots to do. Dreams and expectations.

I’ll do my best to ramp up some posts here at the end, and try to capitalize on invigorated enthusiasm. Plus, I’m sure as the time draws down, I’ll start to miss some of the really cool things about living (and having lived) in Ukraine. I will try to pass those on to the few individuals that occasionally enjoy snippets of my adventures here in Kiev, Odessa, Lviv, Vinnitsa, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Poltava, Vishnya Dubechnya, Uzhgorod, Ternopil, Zhytomir, Khmelnitsky, and many other cities and towns I’ve been to during my stint in Ukraine. There are definitely some things that will be sorely missed.

Many wonderful people and great memories… but it’s time to go Home.

Here’s to New Chapters!!!

Snotty

… Cuz you know when we sleep aloooone, [it means] Mikey is sleeping all by himself.’

It’s the first time. We moved Mikey into his own room.

13 months, 10 days, 10 hours, 2 minutes (or so).

The first real significant phase in our child’s life is complete.

He has grown, he has matured, and he has taken to his own room like a true champion, too. We moved the crib out of the Master Bedroom, we warmed up the kid’s (or kids’) room, we bathed and cleaned him, and then we dressed him for bed in his own little room. We fed him his pre-sleep milk, and helped him into the crib. Some 20 minutes of rocking and cooing later, the boy was asleep, the nightlight was on, the curtains were drawn, and we were free.

He was a champion. He slept all night long without a peep! He woke up and not a peep! Very Amazing. About 10 hours of near total separation (except for checking on him before going to bed ourselves), and the entire family woke up in the morning – happy as can be imagined.

The best part, we didn’t have to be quiet in our room any more, we could turn the lights on if we wanted to, we didn’t have to tip-toe around OUR own bedroom, etc, etc.

Thank you Mikey.

Thank you.

What a little angel, most of the time.