Wish me luck!

Instead of waiting the day it was due (tomorrow) and getting closer to my lucky number 13, I submitted my application to the big job today.  I have snakes in my stomach!  It feels good to have achieved a goal.  There's a small chance I'll get this job, and a larger one I won't.  But what matters is that in making my resume and cover letter, I proved to myself that I have great qualifications for someone of my age and experience, and enough references to drown a cat (not that I'd do that).

Whew!  I feel like my biggest stressor is gone, and I can concentrate on the family gathering this weekend.  I was going to spend tonight freaking out on my resume, but now I'll go have a beer on the porch and tidy the house a bit for visitors.  Viva la Thursday!!

Flowers and shit

Have you ever looked at a  purple dead-nettle flower* up close? They look like crazy mini orchids.  This was as good as my little point-n-shoot camera could do with its macro lens, but it's still pretty neat.

We got a little down at the beginning of the week.  Google was really good about doing things quickly, and J found out he didn't get the job the day after he interviewed.  It was a relief really, since he'd had to neglect his dissertation and other job applications while that broo-ha-ha was going on.  It was a really good experience, and he'll be so much more prepared for subsequent interviews.

As for me, I am trying not to make much out of it.  Yeah, I got pretty down for a few days, but that doesn't help anybody.  The no-control feeling came back and I was like a robot.  A badly-worded text from my mother made me start crying.  I have painted my nails pink and dedicated myself to finishing two sculptures for an upcoming art show (I have never been in an art show, so I am submitting them for approval).  I've also got Chris Clanton on board for taking some profesh photos of the cactus hat this weekend.

So, my first commission is done, and I may have a second on the line.  Another acquaintance wants me to make centerpieces for her wedding.  That sounds like something I would very much like to do, but she is still planning what her theme will be.

*I had to do some image searching, as I kept calling this a clover flower. 28 years and I never knew what this common little flower was called.  There's also the Henbit Dead-nettle, which looks almost the same except the leaves are stuck directly on the steam, so they look a little more lanky.

The first one is always the hardest

My man.

J has his technical interview with Google today. We both slept somewhat badly last night due to crazy wind outside and both of us getting a phone call between 3 and 4am.  I got up and made him coffee and made sure he woke up.  The call isn't until 2:30, but I am biting my nails til then.  I'm looking forward to coming home and finding a less stressed husband.  As for me, the weather seemed like a good omen this morning, window, cool and a little wet.  I am trying to remain as positive as I can.  No matter what comes of this, it's an accomplishment.

Ask a question, it's not illegal

It's a PC.

I wandered through the past two days in a whine-and-cheese malaise, but I seem to be finally coming out of it.  Crazy thing happened yesterday.  I came home from work to find J looking very crumpled.  He got a form email from a Google person he hadn't heard from before, saying they appreciated his application, but blah blah blah.  WTF, mate?  My first instinct was, "This is a mistake."  Since I make them all the time, I figure a huge company with thousands of applicants probably does too.

Seriously, a totally crumpled spouse.  He'd been looking at the email for an hour and a half like a nerdy little Hamlet.  Further confirming my theory, the last email he'd received was all about how to prepare for his technical interview, including websites to digest and books to buy.  Even though an employer is under no obligation to treat people nicely, I knew Google wasn't going to say they'd give an interview then give you the ax just because they can.  J didn't have an interview time scheduled yet (late in the week was the tentative plan) but it didn't seem right to me.  Since it was 5pm here, that meant it was 3pm there, giving his recruiter maybe enough time to get back to him on a yay or nay.

I was chasing the dog around the yard just 10 MINUTES LATER when J came out shouting, "It was a mistake! I have an interview on Monday!"  As much as I've been trying not to put all our hopes on this, we did get rather fixated.  This is a pretty big interview, but it's only the first one, so if it doesn't happen, that is not weird at all.  He should be so proud of himself for landing an interview so quickly.

Oh yes, that phone interview

I made myself scarce yesterday afternoon so J could have his phone interview with the Googles.  A friend took me out for a beer since I was acting so emo, and I couldn't help but check my  phone over and over to see what time it was.  It was only about 40 minutes, and he said it went well.  We'd brainstormed lots of good questions, and he got to ask most of them.  The technical interview will be next week.  I'm amazed at how smoothly this process has gone.

In a display of what might either be sanity or forced failure, I decided yesterday not to apply for the library job.  After all these years waiting and supporting J through his studies, a little open space always twinkled before my eyes.  I imagined there would be some time between resigning from my current job and starting a new one somewhere else, where I'd be able to walk the streets of my new town and learn about it.  Have a little time to get my bearings before jumping back in full time and getting my bearings on the weekends.  Friend from last night said that wasn't weird at all, and owed to me as a PhD widow.  I haven't been saving for nothing.

Still, I should work on a cover letter for it, just as an exercise.

Me and the DMV: A taste of what's to come

Today is a university holiday, so I have it off.  I've spent today buying replacement lightbulbs and paying bills, sitting at the DMV trying to smile in order to make myself feel happier.  But it is just not working.  I keep looking at this dreary day and hoping that's not what's making me feel so low.  If it is, Seattle may not be so great for me.  I never noticed how often the sky was just pure, cloudless blue until I started reading about the weather in the Pacific Northwest.  I understand why they have vampires.

J has a short phone interview today with a Google representative.  It is not the big scary one, but it's his first phone interview for a job.  I have promised to be out of the house.  I am feeling his nervousness.  Afterwards I am taking him out for a meal.  I have yet to eat more than a small bowl of oatmeal today.

When I am sad or confused, I can't eat.  I forget how to make food or just get really bogged down in making decisions. I am currently staring at some frozen samosas that I do not want to unfreeze or eat.  A friend tells me I am disassociating from my current situation because it is too much.  I don't want to believe that, because this is just a taste of all the change and stress we'll go through.  All this time hoping and  complaining about moving on, and I freak out the second we start to go forward.  I've  cancelled plans with friends twice and backed out of a creative project just in the past day.  I'll admit I felt a lot better afterwards, but I really hate to disappoint people.

The highlight of my day will be starting a project for a commissioned Halloween hat.  My patron (who purchased my cherry hat previously and wants to collect more of my work ;)) pretty much let me decide what it would be, and I chose a barrel cactus.  I took a stack of newspapers from the DMV and will start making the form today.

Now, I really should eat before I decide to take a nap and waste the day.

Carried Away: Pacific Northwest Edition

AAAACK

Sorry about that.  The phone interview, of course, was J's.  One day exciting job news will be about me.  Oh wait, here it is!

This weekend, while we made our city rankings, I was looking at all of their library websites looking for job openings.  Absolutely nothing, but that doesn't get me down.  When you're looking for such a specific job in a limited field, it would be too good to always find something.  I've saved a few month's salary, so I'm not too worried (naive much?) but today I looked at one of the libraries and a very good position is open! Not so good that I'm not qualified for it (who's a librarian? Not this guy) but good in that it sounds like awesome fun/hard work and pays well.

Too bad I have never even been to that state.  The application/cover letter is due at the end of March, so what is the hurt in going ahead and having that ready?  I would, of course, discuss this with my colleague, but if he doesn't get a job there, I will not be far enough along in the process to burn a bridge.  So a gal from Arkansas had to pull her application? No one will even blink.  Do I want this job?  I'll have to do a little more research on their library and the goals of the job, but I think so.  I would very much like to get back into the public library setting, and I think after my current job, I'm bringing some more mature assets*.

This is a situation where I must be careful to give J the attention and support he needs while going through this insanely nerve-wracking interview process, but also remember to keep myself in the picture.  There's such a small chance of this hair-brained scheme working out, but when an opportunity like this jumps up, how can you not try?  If he got an awesome job he liked, and I got an awesome job I'd be good at, then I guess "Confessions of a Trailing Spouse" could retire itself.  I think I would rename it "Jumbo Jibbles World of Proposterous Proportions".  Or something.

So, he is currently scheduling a small phone interview with Google, which could lead to a more intensive phone interview with a test of his computery skills.  I haven't seen him since he got the email, but I imagine he's more nervous than I've ever seen him**.

So, thanks to Ask a Manager (I've been a reader for five years now..) and a good friend who got herself a good job, I will start writing a cover letter and reading the library's website in and out.  I may have a snowball's chance of getting this, but I'm gonna go at it like it's a sure thing.

*That's making me giggle.
**I'm pretty sure on our wedding day he was mainly hungry.

PHONE INTERVIEW

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Meetup.com: Picking a city based on search results

The internal referral J got for his Google application did the trick-- he received an email from a REAL PERSON on Friday.  He's gotten past the computers and has been asked to give his top three choices of location.  Google has offices in lots of awesome cities, but we narrowed it down to six, then to three:

1. Seattle, WA
2. Mountain View, CA (main headquarters)
3. Boulder, CO

We picked based on how likely J was to get a job at that particular location, whether we liked the area and all sorts of numbers (crime, cost of living, housing prices, weather).  Mountain View was a shoe-in since it's the main headquarters.  Some stats say it's more expensive than NYC, though, and that's scary.  We went ahead and stuck it there in the middle.  J left it up to me to pick the top location, and Seattle is big, similar to Portland, and I think I'd have the best chance at meeting people and finding things to do, also: jobs.

To chose between Seattle and Boulder (I've never been to either) I used Meetup.com to search for my interests.  I searched crafts, sewing, bicycles, feminism, ASL, libraries and made a judgment based on how much came up for each.  Starting out, though, I knew Seattle would have more.  Boulder is only a little bigger than where we live now.  J is familiar with Boulder, though, and says I'd really like it. Let's just say, though, I have never been skiing, and I've never had the urge.  I feel I'd be a waste of space in Boulder.  I like a bike-able city, though.

When we move, I will definitely use meetup to find some starter groups.  I'll admit, I'm already tired just thinking of how hard it will be to find new friends.

It's been a good Spring Break, though tomorrow's my last day of it.  J made a goal of finishing two applications per day, and so far he's doing it.  This is an extremely exciting time.

Progress! April!

Image from Ji Lee at Pleasenjoy.com

J has set his thesis defense date for late April and he has made a contact who could maybe get him an internal referral at Google.  The company is supposed to hire 6,000 people this year, so maybe J will be one of them.  An internal referral will really help him out, so this is a big deal.  It's exciting to see progress, and kind of fun/scary to see J get all nervous thinking about Google's hiring process: it's rigorous.  If anyone has any insight into what it's like to work there (at any of the locations) tell me about it.

Other than that, he's got four applications he's supposed to send this week: St. Paul, Austin, San Francisco and Seattle.  I could handle all of these, though I must say I'm partial to sunlight and not partial to frozen snot.

Jobs update

We found out yesterday that J lost the Colorado job specifically because of his advisor's negligence.  I mean, we already knew, but then we heard it plainly through J's mentor, who knew the researcher.  There's still another spot open he's been encouraged to apply for, but now he's going in a new direction.  I wouldn't mind living in Colorado, but it's not what he seems to want.

On a happier note, we met up with an old friend at the wedding, who has an indirect contact at Google. Wheee!

Next project: giant banana

The wedding was great, but I am going to do a whole post on it, once Heidi has done hers (I think she deserves the first shot at that particular subject).

Academia to Industry

J's been thinking about the possibility of moving his attention to industry or government jobs instead of academia.  There's lots of good reasons for this, and most of them mean that things will be better for me (except for the possible cheap tuition), but I got incredibly freaked out.  He says there's no way he wouldn't finish his PhD (too damn close) but the seemingly sudden change from life in academia to "What would it be like to work at Mac?" at first seemed like an odd lapse of attention.

We had a friend who got married. Less than a year later that friend decided he was gay.  That freaked me out too, because nobody had any idea! These things coming out of nowhere, when you think you really know somebody, things that change the game plan, this is the feeling I got. The, I-can't-control-anything feeling.  So, even though Industry gives us better options, I couldn't shake the feeling there had been a bait-and-switch.  Why had I been waiting around all during grad school?

There wasn't really a fight, just me wailing and throwing out some tired whining about tying myself to someone and following for the rest of my life (yeah, find an answer in there that you can live with).  If Industry is such an option, why was this the first time we'd talked about it?

It also made me realize that a lot of things I get angry about, information I was never given, wasn't necessarily information he had at the time.  When we got married, he never thought it would take him over six years to get a PhD.  All the sweet things he told me, he really believed.  It was my fault for believing it and not doing my research.  I also realized that I am SO LUCKY that I didn't have the drive to go to grad school.  I'm not that guy.

Ugh, cans of worms over here.  Lots of love and devotion, but a whole lotta worms.

Happy Valentine's Eve!

[UPDATE: I just wanted to make sure that the anecdote about the friend coming out was not to say that coming out is horrible, but the situation was an unnerving surprise.  Everyone wants the one they love to be truly happy, but my heart breaks for her every time I think about it.  It's hard not to think about how I would feel in that situation.]

Awesome? Shame? Texas?

I'm sure everybody has seen this by now, the United States of Shame:

I was pretty happy with "Worst Credit Score", as Arkansas is usually the butt of any joke including goats, Billy Bob Thornton or cousin-marrying.  Most Arkansans fall back on Mississippi to make fun of, but unfortunately that's where I was born.  You learn to be tough at the bottom of the barrel.  Ohio is looking even better for us now, since they are worst at "nerds".  How is that bad?  I think it bodes well with J getting a job there.  And Colorado can't be too bad since I don't do cocaine. I have beat the system!

(Also: Delaware is "worst at" abortion? That is a discussion all in itself.)

And the rejoinder, The United States of Awesome:

In J's words, "BROMINE PRODUCTION?"  I agree-- we do lots of stuff ok: state parks, classy parking meters, Cavender's spice, jelly pie(?), first female US Senator, gays and bigots living in peace together, outhouse races, The Gossip, Maya Angelou and the freaking Clintons.

Beth Ditto and Secretary Hillary Frigging Rodham Awesome Clinton

Bromine, since as an Arkansan resident for 17 years I still had to look it up, is a halogen element used in pesticides, flame retardants and Mountain Dew.  Its latin root bromos means "the stench of he-goats".  Awesome.

What does this have to do with Texas, capital of wind power and low high school graduation rates?  This is the next place J is looking at for a postdoc.  I think I said, "TEXAS? TEXAS?" in an excited/anxious high-pitched voice a few times before he calmly answered yes.  Seriously, I have never heard Texas come out of his mouth.  So, it's now France and Texas, though I still think we shouldn't lose hope in Ohio or Colorado until there's an actual rejection letter. 

 I'm realizing just how little I know about what's going on in my spouse's head, how many places we might go that I can't even imagine.  Makes my little searches for library jobs seem futile. Texas. Texas. Seriously, Texas. I know I'm from Arkansas, but Texas seems so weird.   And even stranger, I find I am drawn to this idea.  Things to think about.

J. finds an outlet!

Cardamom-apple pancakes with rosewater syrup

Last month, J. and our good neighbor Tuna (also a grad student) decided to have food and movie nights with friends, where they competed with their culinary skills on a specific theme or food.   They want to do a blog, too, where they post pictures of the food and review the movies.  Last week (the second event) was a bread contest, and we watched The Holy Mountain (1973).  The bread (a simple whole wheat boule from J. and a rococo pesto loaf from Tuna) was absolutely delicious.  And the movie didn't make anyone run screaming from the room.  Though it's really just a snacks sort of event, everyone who has come has brought a dish, so it turns into a stone soup/Jesus and the loaves kind of thing.  So nice!

Pesto bread in foreground, J's boule to the left, gulab at the top, and a green bean dish by a Turkish friend that tastes very much like you'd get it in the South!

Other than futzing with his bike, this is J's only organized activity.  And as much as I complain about having to forcibly eject him from the house to go work sometimes, he really needs something that has nothing to do with work.  Both he and Tuna are haggard grad students, so they have that bond as well as friendship.  Though they call it a competition, there's nothing like that going on.  No stress, no winners, no rules.  Just food and good times.

Gulab jamun- fried dough in syrup, from India

I made a batch of galub jamun from a packet, and made the syrup myself.  The dough was not the tastiest part about the dish, but I think the syrup turned out well.  So well, we used the leftovers the next day to pour on our pancakes (highly recommended recipe).

On a whim Monday, I checked the academic and public libraries for the towns J's applied in, and actually found some openings.  They weren't ideal, but I am confident that I can eventually turn a part time job into full-time once I prove myself. Economy be damned!*  To show I was being super positive (I'm still making up for my attitude from the past) I sent J an email with the links.  His response was that he wasn't feeling very positive about his current applications because no one was responding to his last email.  It's the beginning of the semester, so I think it's just people being busy.  I hated to hear him sounding sad, and I really didn't mean to exacerbate that with my email.  He's one of the most responsible, level-headed people I know, so sometimes it's hard to remember that he's feeling uncertain and scared, too.

*Please don't ruin my delusions.

New Year's like a Phoenix

I'd like to think I came through the threshold of 2011 like a phoenix, on fire and ready to be reborn, but really I just had the worst hangover of my life (4 drinks! I am serious!) and didn't manage to form complete sentences until 6pm the next day.  On the 31st, I decided that I'd eat more raw food and end the year with a completely raw meal (spring rolls and sun dried tomato brazil nut "cheese") but on the 1st I had a fried cheese melt from Denny's dipped in ranch.  Nothing on earth was going to get me to eat cheese with a Z.  I needed fried.

Other than the horrendous pain and lost time, New Year's was super fun.  I got to wear a cool outfit, go to several parties and hang out with lots of friends.  J. got a little grouchy (he's not as much about parties) but by the end of the night everyone went to bed happy. (How they woke up is another story).

We did end the year with some bad news on the job-search front.  J. sent in an application to Colorado over a month ago, and also got work back from a possible job in Ohio around the same time.  Has his advisor written/sent his rec letters yet? No.  J. tried emailing him several times, stuck around his office trying to catch him, but to no result.  J. was pretty disconsolate a few days ago and thought that this apparent disregard for him getting a job was going to cost him the Colorado one.  It's not his fault, but it makes him look bad.  The deadline for the Colorado application has already passed, so it's not a point in his favor if his is incomplete.

He had to send an email to the Ohio job to see if they had all his letters (since his advisor wouldn't even answer an email about whether he had sent it).  The answer was no, and J. tried to be as diplomatic as he could without saying outright his advisor was practically M.I.A.  He tried to get in touch some more, tried to convince himself that it was just the end of the semester/holiday time and things were going slow, but eventually we tried to convince each other that something horrible had happened and that's why there was no letter.  J. got an email a few days ago from the Ohio researcher asking about the letter, and he forwarded that to his advisor.  Guess who finally replied!  Seems there was some vague emergency, and he is now "working on it".

It's making me very nervous, and I can't imagine what's happening in J's head right now.  He's working as hard as he can, and is asking for the bare minimum.  There's nothing I can do really, and that's frustrating.

Also annoying: people asking me where I want to go.  It's a nicety, I know, but do they not understand the concept that I am not the engineer of this move? I don't want to get back into the negative rut of saying, "It doesn't matter where I want to go," but that's the truth, isn't it? Stop asking me!!

Starts and Stops

Once again, I'm feeling the drag of J's advisor halting progress.  What do you do when you can only get your advisor's attention for 15 minutes a week and they won't write your rec letters or even let you know they haven't done them yet? J's feeling pretty sheepish, as his (now) top choice asked for letters probably two weeks ago, and we're still not sure she's got them all.  He had to send her an email making sure she got them, because his letter writers won't respond to his emails about whether or not they will/have written them.  Grrr.  But-- it was the end of finals week last week, so I should have patience.  I just hate to see him get down about it.  Things got exciting for a few days and then shut down.

In other exciting news, our landlord has dropped another bomb on us.  In September, we had actual contact with him when our A/C went out and he casually told us he was thinking about using our home as leverage in a custody battle.  "I figured I'd let my wife live here rent-free, and her lease is up in June."  Yeah, only slightly horrifying.  Renters' Rights in Arkansas are pretty grim, so we had a huge garage sale and sold off maybe 1/3-1/2 of our belongings just in case he got even flakier and we got the boot.  The idea of moving and then having to move again in 6ish months was horrifying.  We decided to get lighter.

Before that  there was talk of him selling the house, which was OK since our neighbors were interested (and intent on keeping us as tenants).  That fell through when the divorce started and he never returned their calls (after they had already paid for home inspections).  J. says we're probably good because nothing moves fast and the landlord is flaky, but I don't want to count on someone being flaky in a way that is beneficial to me.

Talk is back on about him selling off his properties, and luckily the neighbors are thinking about trying to buy the house again.  I got mad at J. last week for seeming to be cavalier about our possible eviction, but he was just way too stressed/depressed by the rec letter quagmire.  Can we just get out really soon?

The current plan is finish the thesis in March, defend in April, all done by May.  And somewhere in there find a job.  I don't know what I can do at this point but be optimistic.  This blog has helped that last bit dramatically.

In happy-go-lucky news, I had a kick-ass birthday party on Friday that made me forget about my birthday blues earlier in the week.  Here are some pictures, taken by my photographer friend:

My amazing sis-in-law

I love how I look like a tarty cherub in this shot.

Our bathroom has really good light, so eventually everyone came in for some group shots.

Detail of decorations

We forgot birthday candles, so Jonathan obliged with his lighter.

My sis and her new boyfriend. It was hard to find the cutest picture, because they are disgustingly wonderful together.

All in all, it was the best party I've ever had.  My sis-in-law and best friend helped me deck the house out in pink streamers and aqua Christmas balls and decorate a corner just for photos (seen above).   There was a glitch in the karaoke system (namely a microphone and amplification) but we remedied it with a hairbrush and really enthusiastic singing.   The rest of the night was taken up with Framboise floats and photo shoots and chocolate tort.  No one got sick. No one got sad. Everyone got hugs. Then everyone went home.

The Old Neighborhood

This is the coldest day of fall this year.  So cold, that I actually wore my long johns*. This was an excellent decision, because after work today I'm helping a new friend with a class assignment.  She is supposed to walk around with someone in a place that is very familiar to them, and ask questions about their memories and emotions associated with specific places.  I lived in a few places very close to my workplace back in my single days, so we'll just meet at 5pm and take off.  I was nervous at first trying to choose the proper place, thinking I had to choose a location that afforded me a steady stream of stories.  Luckily she will ask me questions and get the ball rolling.  Otherwise it was bound to be an awkward tour of places I got drunk.

The white line is the shoe polish boundary between me and my girlfriend's apartments.
We decided to spice up apartment life by starting an old-timey feud.
Yeah, the apartment manager didn't like it either.

After that I am going to blow some cash at the craft store and try to realize some more of my tiny sculptures.  I took a large pad of yellowed paper from work (it was old!) and drew lots of ideas while watching Fringe.  Can I make a diorama of Saturn and its 63 moons?  I'll at least try!  A tiny hill covered in pea vines leading down to a mysterious cave?  A cake exploding with birds?  A trash-filled park?  Winter is such a good time for sitting still and having ideas.  I tried to go to bed three times because I kept jumping up to write stuff down.  At one point I shushed my husband quite harshly because I was trying to hold onto a very fleeting idea.

He's doing his thing, letters will go out soon, and I am focusing on things that are mine and mine only and can travel anywhere.  I hope wherever we go has decent craft supplies.  A.B. must have a steady supply of mini stags and decorative jars!

*I have always hated long johns.

Unspecific Saturday

I wish I could write about the specifics of my incredibly productive Saturday, but that'd be writing my full name.  Let's just say it was the good kind of cooking (fun stuff) and the good kind of cleaning (re-arranging, pitching).  Sadly, the week did not end with any letters written, so I was a little more irked than usual when the husband piddled on the internet this morning.  I tried to prod him out the door and got the usual, "But I want to spend this time with you!"  I told him he was spending time with his RSS feed, and to scoot.  Luckily, he's been gone for hours, I've gotten lots done, and we have definite plans tonight with no end-time.

I got really sad one day last week, trying to get a friend to do something with me, but everyone was busy.  I get sad about this sometimes and have to remind myself that adult life just doesn't include as much free time.  But what really got me a little choked up was how hard it would be to find someone to do things with when I knew nobody.  I know everyone here, I know where everything is.  I get huge satisfaction in being a sometimes-maven and always knowing where someone can get anything.  I'm a connector.  I will lose all of that soon.  Meaning, if I'm not careful, I could lose my identity.

Too melodramatic?

Jobs Update

Semper Augustus - Virus Tulip!

The spouse should be sending out some letters this week.  I am trying not to hold my breath.

We're working on next semester's schedule, and I keep wondering if I'll be here when our hours change from Spring to Summer.  It would have been best to leave now-ish, as all the employees are good 'n trained, and my boss would have a semester and a summer to find, train and establish someone before the blitz of next August.  Summer isn't a good time to come in, because it's slow and you get no experience.  But that's when I came in, and I did an OK job during that first crazy season.

Should I plant more bulbs for the spring? Yes.

Not trailing yet, and leading quite successfully

The start of the semester is always a terribly stressful time for me.  Most of my employees are students, some of them just coming out of high school, for some their first time job.  It's difficult juggling their school schedules against my schedule of stuff that needs to get done.  So, I've been basically working 2 jobs for the past two weeks, what I do and what they'll be able to do once they're properly trained. They're all currently in the baby bird stage, needing constant supervision and info.  And that's good. If they aren't asking questions, they're probably coasting.  No coasters so far, but damn, I am tired.

On the job front, the spouse is waiting for one job to get funding so he can officially apply, and he also got an email directly from someone associated with another postdoc telling him he should apply. In the second job, it's someone who is currently working with one of the spouse's previous colleagues, who recommended him.  Nice! But that person isn't the PI, so it may not do anything. And the spouse isn't sure the job has anything to do with his skill set. None-the-less, it's nice to be thought of!

I'm antsy of course, as fall approaches and he doesn't have any applications in, even though he's telling people he hopes to be gone by the new year.  I'm distracting myself spectacularly.  The sewing is going nicely, and I've started doing a little yoga in the mornings.  I wish I could post pictures of stuff I'm making, but that would kill my anonymity. So prepare to be eternally tantalized!  I think this is going to be a great fall.