Beginning of Many Things

Today was a day of firsts.

First, it was a first day of work for me (Megan). (Praise the Lord!) Baptist East Hospital made the offer about a week ago, and today was the first day of orientation. Here's a quick summary:

first day look

6 hours of lecture, rather reminiscent of the first day of nursing school, during which I observed much drinking of coffee. I believe the four pitcher-like coffee containers were full when the day began at 0730, but come 1135 when I accidentally grabbed those in lieu of the hot water pitcher, they were all empty. This, perhaps, explains the 5 minute rotations of bathroom-goers throughout the morning. I, on the other hand, fully enjoyed a retreat into childhood with hot chocolate, yum. Break for lunch, free subs sweet!, where people finally started talking and coming out of their rainy-Monday-morning coma (transition related to coffee use?) and I met some interesting women. The afternoon was filled with the usual safety-emphasis, TB mask fit-testing (which I nearly failed, I think due to the fact that my taste is all sorts of unusual right now), and a trip to employee health. When visiting Jarrod later at work, he asked for a quick summary I responded with "they took my blood, gave me a shot, and fed me lunch, it was great!'.  All in all, I am so excited to be working here. Tomorrow will be another long day of lectures, but then more hands-on training starts.
Second, the beginnings of a "baby bump" are encroaching on my once-comfortably fitting pants. I have joked with Jarrod that baby Reed only made his/her presence known after 7pm with a slight "poof". Despite knowing in my head that this belly-protrusion is entirely normal and good, it's still a bit disheartening when getting dressed in the a.m. and realizing two minutes later that your pants are quite uncomfortable. Sigh... perhaps this weekend will involve the first "m" clothes purchase.
Third, and to me, probably the best: it appears Jarrod has finally reached and understanding with school and church and life and wife. Priorities are set and when there's not enough time in the day to get in all done, the once-existent meltdown has now been replaced by a sigh and a good night's sleep. Hooray! Perhaps he'll avoid that ulcer after all. He really does such a good job or making sure that I, and even Simba, know we're loved and more important than an assigned textbook. Thanks to you for continuing to lift him up to the Father concerning this. I'm sure we will revisit this from time to time; but for today, victory.

Fourth: Jarrod and I trekked our first "AT-like" trails this past weekend. Setting out early Friday morning, in the pouring rain we went to chickfila for free breakfast. Despite the rain and baby Reed not cooperating with the whole eating this, we made for the Jefferson Memorial Forest. Climbing as high as 800 feet above sea-level (oh, how I miss the sea!) and traversing 8.5 miles, we were quite proud of ourselves. Joining us on the adventure were three turtles (didn't expect to see them and as evidenced by the loud hiss I don't think they expected us either!), ginormous squirrels, daddy-long-legs the size of my fist, and quail. Anyone in the Louisville area, you really should check out this park. No fees and it was beautiful. BUT... they did not waste space. What other parks would make into a long switchbacks, they made into ridiculously steep staircases. Whew! I do wish we had pictures of this adventure to share, but we left the camera at home. Excuse to go back I guess :)

Fifth: Lastly, and sadly, my favorite pair of shoes has finally died. The sole has been thinning for quite some time. And today, when I picked them up to walk Simba today, I saw the inside of the upper part of the shoe. Very sad day. The sperrys stood the test of many hundreds of miles. Hey, even with a hole they made it for a two mile walk this afternoon. I know their era is over, but I'm just not ready to let them go. Anyone know how to repair them??  Haha, this is ridiculous, I know.

Perhaps on the news where you are you've seen Louisville on the news recently. One of their three bridges has major cracks in it and is shut down indefinitely. Not really for us, but for many, a traffic nightmare has resulted. What city, situated on a river, only has THREE BRIDGES?!?!? Jarrod and I often ponder what the city planners of this town were thinking. Just adding to the list of oddities....

Anyway, that's about all the news on our front. I pray you all are growing in your understanding of the greatness of God, being fully grounded in love. Thanks for keeping tabs on us!
We love you,
-the Reeds