Catching Up

Here's some of what I've been up to...It's not an exhaustive list, but it's enough to give you an idea of why the blog went to the wayside.

- Hannah started a youth group at a local church. After attending with her the first couple times and meeting the other kids, I decided I wanted to get involved. Now, I'm a youth group leader. Never in a million years would I have thought I'd be in this role, but I just couldn't not do something to contribute to the lives of these kids.

- I was told I might not have a job next semester. Then, about a week later, I found out that I still have a job, but my class load has been cut (by one course). Since I currently teach 3 courses, and one class has been cut for the spring, it basically means I've lost 30% of my income. If I think about this anymore right now, I'll start crying so...there you have it.

- Because of the above bad news, it made no sense to move forward with plans to remodel the kitchen. Instead, we spent a lot less money and hired a painter to finish stripping the wallpaper in the office and paint that room, our bedroom, and strip/prep/paint the hallway and stairway. Now, our entire upstairs is repainted and looks a million times better. I completely love the color of my office! It's a dark, teal green that you normally wouldn't think would look good, but with the white bookshelves, desk, etc., it really works well.

- My brother came for a one-night visit. Then, he met my Mom in a nearby town and they had their own little New England vacation. There was some drama associated with it all since my Mom had no plans to come visit my family, but ultimately I took the high road and whatever...

- Our youth group took a weekend trip to NYC--yay!! It happened the same week when I received papers from two classes--boo! Lesson learned.

- In addition to youth group, both Eliza and Hannah are participating in AWANA at the church every Tuesday night.

- My neck completely spasmed for almost two weeks straight. Between pain meds, steroids, and muscle relaxers, and trying to keep up with grading, I wasn't coherent enough to do much of anything.

- The good news is that Hannah got moved into Honors classes!! So far, we haven't had any problems, and I'm so proud of her. She came home the first day and said, "Mom, it's like the first day of school I never had!" She's doing so much better, thank God.

- The job market in my field absolutely blows. It is abysmal! Approximately 15-18 tenure-track jobs in my field, and many of them at schools that probably wouldn't even look twice at my application. It doesn't look good folks, and I don't know what the alternative is.

That's a fairly good idea of how crazy things have been. I'm hoping to get the rest of my job apps out this week, so that should free up some more time. And then, I'll need a place to vent, because unless something good happens with the job market, some big changes will need to be made.

Happy Birthday Eliza!

Chalk up my blog absence to an array of things (beginning of the semester, insane grading load, the need to get job apps out, and some travel). Nonetheless, today there's a great reason to get back into the blogging groove: it's Eliza's 5th birthday!!

We had her party yesterday, and it was fantastic because for the first time in more than two years, family was able to join us for the celebration. Hubby's parents flew in for the weekend, and we had a great visit with them. Even though none of the kids in Eliza's daycare class were able to make it (my fault, since I didn't get the invites out more than a week in advance), she enjoyed herself, and I was thankful that we got to share the time with family.

I am so proud to her Mama!! She's smart, beautiful, and imaginative, and I can't believe it's been 5 years!