It has been FAR too long since my last post! I had actually deactivated my blog temporarily in the fall and am just now in a place where I can start it back up. This past year has been CRAZY but in so many good ways. I am in my last year of grad school, so I spent the last 6 months or more applying for actual "big girl" jobs! It's insanely stressful- as I'm sure it is for anyone on the job market, but after spending essentially the past 10 years of education working to get to this place, and to have everything come down to a few pages of self inflating mumbo jumbo that I modify (just enough for it to take forever with each new app) for the specific position (of which there are MANY) is just....exhausting. I also tend to not be very comfortable or good at talking myself up, so that doesn't help. But, I was somehow able to convince a few schools that I was what they were looking for and actually managed to get some campus interviews! One of the schools was an unbelievably perfect fit in every possible way- location (back HOME), co-workers, student body- everything! And they must have felt the same, because I got the job! Yay!! So in the fall, I will officially be a professor!!!
It's still not completely sunk in that, 9 years after finding my dream job, I'm actually there. Sure, there's this pesky thing that I need to get out of the way in the meantime (finishing my PhD), but still. Much of the work is now behind me. This past year has been RE-diculous (spelling for emphasis). I have had weeks of constant work all day, to come home to work all night, and still feeling like I am way behind. I still have those weeks, even now that applications are done. Evenings and weekends are like shining beams of light- not because they are work free, but because I get to do it from home, on my time, in sweatpants, with the kitty babies snuggling, and David with me. BUT, I really love my job. The only times I feel drained are when the work is labor intensive. I wouldn't do it if I didn't love it. Just Friday night, and Saturday morning, I was uber-geeking out because the tissue I had stained looked AWESOME and I'm still super excited about it! And it totally blows my mind that not only do I get to be paid to do this stuff for the rest of my career, but I get to spend my days showing how awesome it is to future "lifers." It's seriously not even fair how totally awesome it is.
And what could make all this even better? I have been hospital and IV med free for 15 WHOLE MONTHS. That means I made it through a winter without a stay in the hospital. Not one. Not even close. Even considering the stress of job apps and short 1.5 day interviews passing through multiple airports full of sick people. And no major PFT drops to boot. My last appointment had me about where I was last summer, meaning I'm not once again spending the summer recovering from winter lows, but continuing the steady rise! So we'll see how things go from here... WOOT!!!
