The eyes have it

Before I landed this cushy new gig as a stay-at-home-mommy, I never really had a career, but instead worked a series of interesting jobs. While some were more interesting than others, I always had a good time and learned lots of useful tidbits from each job. For instance, when I was a cook at a pre-school in my 20s, I learned how to time the cooking of each meal item so that everything came together right at lunch time. I also learned that 3-year-olds do not necessarily appreciate a lot of seasoning in their food (kid, after taking a bite of my special peppery corn: Teacher, more milk please! My mouth is burning!).

For a couple of years right after Big Omi and I were married, I worked as an editor at a textbook company. It was a great opportunity for me to hone my skills as a nit-picker and perfectionist. My experience there also led to some freelance work, copyediting scientific journal articles and grant proposals for non-native-English speakers. Now, I'm not exactly sure if what I'm learning from reading these articles is very useful, but you never know when you're going to be able to drop into a conversation how scientists check to make sure mice are properly anesthetized (with a toe pinch, if you're interested) before they are euthanized (with a guillotine, I kid you not), or that fresh retinas from dark-adapted calf eyes can be obtained at slaughterhouses. Although, with the holidays coming up, I'm sure the opportunity will present itself.