A BEWITCHING MOVE AHEAD

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“There’s no place like home”
(Dorothy Gale,  The Wizard of Oz, 1934)

My life has been an amazing journey.  I’ve lived in different countries, worked in different labs, and changed my line of research quite a bit over the years.  The last drastic move was from Paris, France to Norman, Oklahoma, in what was classic “culture shock.”   However,  the past 18 years in this small town were the happiest of my life.   It’s always great to go back to Paris, or visit New York,  to spend time in California, or chill out with my folks in Sao Paulo, but life in a college town has unique appeal.  And because we’ve had such a great time living and working here, we expected to call Norman our home forever.

But it was not meant to be.  A new, exciting adventure lies ahead: Phil accepted the position of the Head of the Department of Biochemistry at Kansas State University, so we’ll move our home (and our lab) to another college town!   About the same size of Norman when we first arrived here almost 20 years ago, Manhattan seems like a great place.  We are ready to face this  challenge together.   If it all goes according to plan, we will move around the last week of June, and then move the lab a couple of months after that.

“Home is wherever I’m with you.”
(Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeroes,  2009)

55 thoughts on “A BEWITCHING MOVE AHEAD”

  1. Wow!! Exciting! Congratulations. Alot to get done in a little over a month — packing up home and lab. What about selling your home? How’s the housing market down there? I hope you find a new home in Kansas with a great kitchen!! Can’t wait to hear all the details. 🙂

    Ann

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    • Thanks, Ann… it’s indeed a lot on our plate, and for a while I thought about putting the blog on hold, but now I think I can keep it going, maybe at a slower pace.

      We found a home in Manhattan and should close the deal in a couple of weeks – our house here goes into the market very soon. The home in Manhattan is smaller, and I like that, but it makes it a bit tricky to move. We see a major moving sale in our future!

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  2. Wow!! Very exciting! Congratulations! Alot to get done in a few weeks — packing up house and lab. And, selling the house, how is the market down there. I hope you find a new house with a wonderful kitchen in Kansas! Can’t wait to hear about your new adventures!

    Ann

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  4. I was confused until I googled and found a Manhattan in Kansas as well as in New York … which would have been a LONG drive to get to work every day. 🙂 I look forward to your posts from your new home. It does sound exciting.

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    • 🙂
      I’ve been writing to my family in Brazil small reports that I entitled
      “The Other Manhattan” – they get a kick out of it, and we do too. Once we move and get acquainted with our new life, I might make a post with this title

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    • Merci bien! We do get a lot of extra energy from this change. It will be a ton of work, but strangely enough, we feel “younger” . Not sure how else to put it, it’s the feeling we have at the present time.

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  7. Kansas, huh? I thought their Board of Ed abolished the teaching of science at any level long, long ago, and the state now makes it a felony to practice scientific method anywhere within their borders.

    I guess I must be wrong, if you’re moving there to do research. Either science is now just a misdemeanor offense, which you’re willing to risk, or the Darwin advocates hit on the politically expedient re-branding of what they do as “Systematic Observations of God’s Pre-destined and Soley Asexual Miracles”. Either way, keep your distance from the locals, wear a crucifix even to bed, and when asked: the earth is 6,000 years old.

    Good luck with the move! And remember: slandering BBQ in Kansas still IS a felony. And rightly so.

    God bless.

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    • I have a very Catholic mother who prays so much for her atheist daughter that I am safe no matter what. I will therefore be skipping the crucifix. 😉

      but I will be very careful with the BBQ thing. Obviously

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    • Thank you, Cheryl! We feel a bit like on top of a roller coaster, holding hands and waiting for the big thrill… it will all be great in the end, I am sure

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    • Winter clothes and heavy bedding all packed, some kitchen stuff too. Boxes starting to accumulate in the garage… and a huge garage sale in the preparation stage…

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  11. Querida, adoro essa sua alegria pra enfrentar qualquer mudança! Tenho certeza que serão felizes naquela casa que é a cara de vocês! E vai ficar mais ainda daqui a pouco!
    beijos
    Van

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  13. Congratulations to Phil! An good luck on your move and new adventure ! Will you be continueing you work on Listeria?

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    • Yes, indeed…. the work on Listeria has expanded now to include Staphylococcus aureus, so we are pretty excited about it, as it is more of a relevant pathogen. Let’s say it’s a much bigger killer…

      all other lines of research will move with us, as well as two grad students, who are in the beginning of their PhDs.

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    • You are so right! We never expected this move, but it all happened in a way that made the “right” decision quite clear. It is sad to say goodbye to all the friends we made here, but we won’t be THAT far away!

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  15. Congratulations to both of you! It sounds like another exciting opportunity in many ways. I look forward to learning more.

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  16. Sally..when my DH came home from work one day.. and patiently listened to me say what little things I wanted my supervisor to change..i.e salary!!..he said we probably need to move!! We had 2 kids in school.. one going into high school …this was 20 years ago and it was a good move..shook us up..but we have never looked back.. Good vibes to you and Phil.. Barb

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  17. Congratulations Sally!!!! I wish you all the best with your move. Mike said to “boo” Bruce Weber if you get the chance. 😉 He’s still a little bitter. LOL. I can completely relate to your moves and your new found appreciation for small college towns. Mike’s employment led us to several happy years in a small Minnesota town before landing back at “home” in Chicago. I’m sure we’ll have another move or two down the line someday. I will be thinking of you and sending you good packing, moving and settling vibes. 🙂

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  21. And here I thought Manhattan was in New York ;-). Sally, this is such exciting news… Congratulations to you and Phil and what a wonderful attitude you have – that’s the way to do it. Love your chosen quotes. I couldn’t agree more; home is where the people you love are. A busy couple months ahead for you I suspect… we’ll be rooting for you Sally!

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    • I’ve had quite a few “homes”, it’s a wonderful journey to make a house into a home. I must say we love our home here in Norman and it will be hard to say goodbye to it, but…. the arrow points forward and we follow it

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  25. I am so excited for you and the new adventure you are about to have!! 🙂 Good luck with everything and I hope all the transitions are smooth! (and thanks for doing a guest post for me while I moved, it helped out so much and got such a great response back!)

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    • yes, we have bought a new home, just last Friday! the kitchen needs some improvements in the appliances department, but we’ll get there, one little step at a time!

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