February 2025

The cold and snowy winter continued this month, with an added bonus of a solid sheet of ice on top of the snow that didn't melt for at least a week. So photos and videos are sparse this month, since we mostly stayed inside, but here is link to them. Not much is new, but here are a few things of note.

Valentine's Day and Date Night at the Theater

Rob: Becky got us tickets to see a play and coordinated babysitting for Valentine's Day. There is this cute theater in an old building that we drive past occasionally, and thought it would be fun to go see a play there. The production was called Into the Breeches, and the actors were outstanding. The couple we had babysit for us said Alex did very well and they were able to put him to bed when his movie was over without problems, so that's always good to hear. To commemorate Valentine's, we also made pizza that weekend as per our tradition. Detroit style again.

Work Uncertainty

Rob: Among many government agencies that have been gutted this month is the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and this has caused a lot of stress for me and those in biomedical research that I work with. This month we worked on submitting two NIH grant proposals to investigate how aging leads to urinary tract disorders, but there's a decent chance they won't be reviewed anytime soon since no one seems to know what's going on in the NIH. The agency has frozen most funding right now, despite the fact that money was approved for spending by congress under the current budget. There's a lot more I could say about this, but as expected cuts to NIH funding continue, there's a decent chance that the people I work for won't be able to employ me for much longer. And if that happens, I don't expect many other institutions in academic research will be able to hire me either because the people I work for are in a better position with funding than most. Many universities have already started hiring freezes.

Pickleball Warehouse and Other Fun

Rob: An indoor pickleball facility opened up in our area, so we've been taking turns going out there to play on different weeknights as a way to stay active. Unfortunately Becky played a little too much pickleball there and hurt her knee earlier in the month, so she had to take a break for a while. But that didn't stop her from also organizing a pickleball game at the church on a Saturday morning later in the month, with a few people that we recruited who had an interest. So we hope to continue both of those endeavors.

In other recreation news, Becky and Alex had a fun visit to the Children's Museum in Poughkeepsie, and got treats at a cafe nearby. Me and Alex made a trip to the Motorcycle Museum, and Alex enjoyed a kids section they added onto it. Other than that, we had various outings to the usual malls, arcades, and libraries this month to get out of the house. 

What Else Is New

Rob: We got a new bench that matches our front entry / kitchen area better.

Alex: Alex lost a tooth and made it through a dentist appointment. He also finished his series of swim lessons, and learned to have fun in the water again. We miss his old swim teacher Ryan, but the new one was really good to. We'll probably do more lessons in the summer. 

Becky: Nothing new here.  I generally don't enjoy all the start of the year stuff I do for work- updated physical and certification renewals.  But that's all done and I rewarded myself by watching seasons 1-3 of Stranger Things (throughout the month, not all at once).  One great thing about getting old is I couldn't remember a lot of it so it was like I was watching most of the episodes for the first time:)