2008: The fastest year ever!

Wow, that was quick. This time last year we were hanging out in Austria after moving off our sailboat, Maia. We knew I would be starting work at Syngenta in early January and we knew we’d be living with Emily until we got it all figured out, but that was about all we knew. I thought we’d probably stay in Greensboro or maybe get jobs at the coast and move back onto the boat. I had no inkling Reinhart would find the job of his dreams in Antarctica, we’d sell our precious Maia, and we’d move out to Colorado. It was so fast; I'm not sure we realized it was all happening. I don’t even try to imagine what 2009 has in store for us; I just hope in includes a dream job for me, and a lot of time together for us!




There are no updates on Mindy’s side of the globe, just lots of holiday fun with friends and family. I’m getting a little homesick for our stuff and our place in Colorado. I’m already starting to make plans for when we are both home together again, about a month from now. Reinhart was pleased with the Christmas Eve dinner at South Pole, lobster and beef wellington; both were absolutely delicious. They had a planned party in the cafeteria after dinner and a spontaneous party in another building afterwards…there were probably some sleepy-heads at the annual Christmas Day Race around the World the next morning.

He has thoroughly been enjoying his work at Pole. He is working on various projects: the logistic facility, an exhaust heat exchanger for Generator 4, The Ice Cube lab, RF/SPTR 2 (the dish pictured in our picasa album), fuel storage, and rod well #3. In his free time he has been attending science lectures, watching movies, and rooting for his colleagues who have entered an ice sculpture competition and the race around the world. He has no time to be bored, although I am starting to detect a bit of homesickness in his voice. I’m sure even with all of the very serious work and not so serious holiday hoopla, it is a little sad to be away from your loved ones…he is certainly missed here. The opportunities, though, have far outweighed the sacrifices!

We wish you all a New Year filled with health, love, and pleasant surprises! Check out Reinhart’s pictures on our picasa page (link above at right); he’s just max-ed out the first folder and started a new one. Here is a link to an article in the USAP Antarctic Sun online newspaper for anyone who may be interested: http://antarcticsun.usap.gov/features/contentHandler.cfm?id=1666