Shopping Update

So I write to you from my new (much needed) Macbook. I've been hemming and hawing about a new laptop for a couple of years now, and I finally broke down and bought it. Very happy and not looking back!

I also got a new hairbrush. I suppose general hygiene is more important than internet access! Thanks to living in Minneapolis and having an Aveda-trained friend, I've had my eye on an Aveda brush for a while now, but couldn't justify it seeing as I already had a brush. (These are the days of our lives.) But you all asked me to keep you updated on whether or not we're taking care of ourselves, and I am happy to report that I will not be ripping out anymore clumps of hair with broken hairbrushes!

(The magic stick)

Now for the good part of the story...Pratik just left about an hour ago to go play squash at the gym with his labmate. He was looking all over for a pair of tennis shoes to wear. What soon-to-be Dr. Verma failed to remember is that we threw away his tennis shoes a few months back. Lately he has been wearing the aforementioned holy loafers, as well as his dress shoes.

HE JUST WORE HIS DRESS SHOES TO THE GYM. Complete with green plaid shorts, dress socks, and a red tshirt that has the image of the god Ganesh.

On his way out, I said oh, does someone need new shoes? To which he hastily replied NO!

Holy loafers are about to hit the trash!

Denial.

We're in denial in my house.
Pratik has shoes with holes, refuses to buy a new pair. I have a bra with a broken wire and a hairbrush that is missing bulbs on the end of the bristles. I told him I'd purchase new underthings if he'd buy new shoes, to which he replied "This is not tit for tat!...Wait, maybe it is!" This conversation occured on the way home from the Mac store to check out a new laptop for me. Priorities! We're coming home with wet socks and ripping out clumps of hair, but damn it all I'll be on the internet!
This morning he trashed my hairbrush behind my back. You can bet those shoes are next! This means war.

My new reality series, PhD Wives

Pratik recently gave a talk at the American Chemical Society's annual meeting in San Francisco, and conversation in our house has turned to real, concrete talks about where we are going next, though we are still uncommitted.

There are many series out there about "wives." Netflix is queueing up the British series "Footballers' Wives" for me, and in America we have "Army Wives." While I am much more than "just a wife," and I think many husbands out there need their own series (WNBA Husbands?) I am inspired to start my own little reality series here to chronicle this journey (and oh how he hates that metaphor) we have taken for higher education in the wild west...as it wraps up... (It's formal name shall be PhD Wives and their Master's Degree Husbands...but that's far too long.) I can promise you talk will be so bland and possibilities will be so erratic, no network can handle this reality, so stay tuned here!

Your season recap:
Last time on PhD wives, Lindsie considered the reality of leaving California, and wondered if what lied ahead could still be as exciting as what came before it. Pratik still cannot navigate Palo Alto, thus anywhere they went would look the same.

Concrete Possibility #1: Germany
Pratik has co-authored papers with a woman from Germany that comes by their lab now and again, who has really encouraged him to check out the opportunities in Germany for post-doc positions. Germany has always been on our radar for this, but since his talk he's really strongly considered it. He was encouraged to apply to a lab that was recently granted a large award, as well as the Max Planck Institute.
While I am digging my heels into the San Francisco soil slightly, I have been very vocal about wanting to take opportunities abroad. And by opportunities, I mean learning French and whisking away to Milan to shop by myself while he slaves away at work. (i.e. not reality) but nonetheless I'm still extremely vocal about wanting to go abroad. Heck, for 2 years of our life, why not. So when he seriously considered Germany this week, he literally got into the car and said he wanted to ask me "how I felt about it." I think I exploded and asked if he had been listening to me for the past 4 years! The answer is yes, yes, and ja. "But we'll have to learn German!" Really, does he not know me at all?
Truthfully, I found it very considerate of him. I hope he gives me the same consideration if Texas reappears in his mind!
But for real this time, Germany is on the list.