9 posts tagged “work”

I taught my last class of the semester yesterday.  It wasn't my best, that's for sure.  I don't know if I made any sense at all.  I am very out of it these days and can't really focus.  But, now that it's over, I'm not going back.  Done with work, done with school.  I've made my arrangements for my GA to grade exams and compute final grades.  So I'm not going back there again until way, way after this baby is born.  It feels good.  There are always things hanging over my head at work, but I'm feeling pretty good about leaving them behind for a while and not worrying.  I've got to give myself space and time to focus on my new baby. 

I say all of this but I am teaching an online class in about 5 weeks.  I've got it pretty much ready to go I think.  I've cut the content back somewhat, something I know the students wouldn't mind since they always complain that I assign too much for a quick summer course.  I just have to remember to turn the course "on" so to speak when it is time.  I think I can handle it. 

It is funny to me how many students came out of the woodwork asking me for time, meetings, help in these last couple of weeks.  They are oblivious of course.  I've tried to be helpful but still, I know I'm not at my best.

Last Dr appt this morning before the excitement starts next week.  Should be fine. 

I am so ready.  I want my body back.  I want my hands and feet to return to normal.  Stop hurting.  I want to be able to hug the monkey closely again without the big watermelon belly in the way.  Let's do this. 

have been really, really insane.  It started when the mister went off to the Big Apple.  He came home in one piece and had a good time.  The following week I had a feminist conference here in LV.  Friends/colleagues from out of town came and Thurs through Sat night were all about the conference.  It was a lot of being "on" and a lot of being in meetings.  Overall a good experience, but very tiring anyway.  (If I weren't five months pregnant it wouldn't have been such a big deal--I tire easily these days).  While all of this has been happening our department has been trying to hire three new people, and I have been chairing the search committees for two of those positions.  So the core people who do everything in the department have been going to job talks, taking people to dinner, meeting with candidates in committees.  I've been one of them.  It's been exhausting.  We finally just finished up the hiring.  Got three good people (we hope).  I had to miss two yoga classes during this time because of the job candidates.  Bummer.  I really need my yoga through all of this stress.

My mom was just here for 10 days.  She arrived just as the feminist conference ended.  That was really good.  It is always good to have her here.  She loves hanging out with monkey and she cooks real food for us while she's here and we really appreciate it.  But at the same time that she was here the job candidates were still going on and I still had work stuff to do.  AND, we had a horrible wind storm one Wednesday night that knocked out our power at about 6:30 pm.  Everyone else had their back on by 10 that night except us and our next door neighbor.  We didn't get the power turned back on until Friday morning at 7 am.  It was cold.  It was insane.  I couldn't believe it.  My mother was a trooper.  It felt like we were in Baghdad instead of a quarter of a mile from the luminous and famous LV Strip.  It was really amazing and really, really frustrating.

AND, during all of this our 2001 Ford Focus' engine decided to blow up and they wanted $6,000 to fix it.  SO, we had to get a new car.  Again, all while my mom was here.  She was very helpful though as usual.  We got another Saturn just like the one we already had.  The mister had been beginning to think that we needed to get a new car since we've got another baby coming and the Focus is really small for two car seats.  But we weren't counting on doing it right away.  Still, we had to go ahead and take care of it.  So now we've got two cars to accommodate two babies. 

Okay, enough complaining.  Let's just sum up by saying that it's been a rough month and I'm looking forward to March in the hope that things will be calmer. 

Pennsylvania was fun.  We had a great time at my brother's house in Pittsburgh.  Monkey loved hanging out with his cousins and it was such a baby-friendly place to hang out it was very low stress for us.  A really nice time overall.  And it's always good to get to spend time with my brother and his wife.  Good people.

Work is busy.  I'm having many moments of panic from time to time.  So many projects going on.  I have to try to get a handle.  I applied for some jobs this fall and apparently didn't get any of them.  Oh well.  Next year.  Maybe this isn't a good year to be on the market anyway since I'm trying to finish up a book, four articles, write a grant proposal, mentor four students, and HAVE A BABY all at the same time.  Maybe the timing is just a little off. 

Baby stuff is good.  Monkey stuff is good.  He's so funny.  He's stringing together words now into two word sentences and babbling all the time.  He knows the word kite and I have no idea how.  He's pretty amazing to watch. 

My mom is coming to town on Sunday and staying for 10 days.  I'm really looking forward to it.  She's got a lot of work to do once she's here!  It'll be good. 

Well, I guess first with an apology.  I've been completely neglecting my little vox blog for the past month or so and if you've noticed, then I'm sorry.  I can offer few good excuses other than just being busy and at times overwhelmed.  Thanks for noticing though.  I appreciate it.

There's just been a lot going on.  Everyone finally got over the colds and coughs and cruds that had been plaguing our little family for the past two months.  That was pretty exhausting. 

Work has been a lot for me lately.  Drama, deadlines, boredom, loneliness, frustration, weirdness, brain pain, challenges, all have been going on and seem that they will continue to do so.  I've got what I guess is a "difficult" or maybe challenging relationship with my immediate supervisor.  It's not hostile or anything, just annoying and pestering.  At heart he's a nice person, he's just got a style that makes me crazy.  And he seems to push me on purpose.  And I'm working with him on a big project, which means that I have to be around and communicate with him a lot and that's not easy.  I've met a couple of work deadlines in the past month but still have several looming over my head.  And with my closest friend/colleagues no longer in my department, it makes it kind of sad and boring to be there.  Wah.  It's not THAT bad, just not as fun as it used to be I suppose.  The mister and I have been going out to lunch more often than before, and so that has actually been a nice byproduct of being kind of lonely at work. 

And, well, the big news, the important news, the exciting news is that it looks like we're going to have another baby!  I haven't been to the doctor yet, but all the signs are there and the over the counter tests were positive.  So that is VERY good news.  We were initially shocked but also very happy about it.  We didn't expect it to happen so easily the second time since it took three years the first time.  I can't get in to see the OB for another week or so, so it'll be good to finally get in there and get the confirmation and more.  Start the prenatal regimen.  Part of the reason why I've been neglecting vox is that I am actually pretty nauseated this time around and so in addition to the usual first trimester exhaustion, I kind of want to puke all the time--even though I don't actually puke.  Eating a little something helps me feel better.  This is in stark contrast to my first pregnancy with the monkeymono when I never felt nauseous, just hungry all the time.  Different baby already! 

So, I guess that's the update.  I think that about covers it.  I'll try not to lapse again so badly.  I'll likely post some recent monkey fotos soon.  Can't get enough of those. 

I hope you're well!

One colleague, who is not a nice person, came into my office today to respond to a memo I put out about our students.  We hadn't exchanged words in months I think.  He was mostly nice and reasonably supportive.

One colleague came into my office today all happy, big smile, to tell me that as part of my administrative post in our department, I am now on an ad hoc committee that will meet three times to talk about student issues.  This colleague wasn't the least bit apologetic about the new and exciting extra meetings that I will now be expected to attend.  In fact, this person seemed downright pleased with the notion of me doing yet more work for the department.  This colleague told me the news in front of another colleague who said, great, more service.  Clueless.

One colleague who I never see because this colleague is on hiatus from the department showed up in my office today unexpectedly.  This person is currently applying for lots of jobs and it was interesting to speak with them about their thinking about the job market and their process. 

One colleague told me today that they are completely overwhelmed.

Can you guess?

It's been a whole week since I've posted.  I know you were wondering what happened to me...

Sat through a day long faculty meeting on Tuesday.  Since then I've been trying to get ready for classes to begin next week.  And took the car in for routine maintenance, and took the kid in for routine maintenance (18 month well-check).  Just constant stuff on my mind.  My to-do lists keep feeling overwhelming to me so I'm not keeping up with them the way I usually do. 

One highlight was happy hour with girlfriends on Tuesday night.  That was really nice.  Everything else has been work.

A came back into town for a couple of days this week.  Remember that she recently moved away?  Well, she came back for a brief visit and to work on our most recent paper together.  She arrived on Sunday evening and left Wednesday very early morning.  In the two days she was here we worked on the paper and created the presentation that I'm going to give at the national meetings this weekend in NYC.  It was good.  Our usually constructive co-authorship worked as usual: sitting next to each other in front of the computer, literally starting and finishing each other's sentences as we write.  Good.

It was nice to have her back for a little bit.  When she actually moved a month ago, I tried not to get all weird about it because I knew that she'd be back in a month.  Now, it's unclear when our next visit will be.  We're still working on that. 

This cartoon from the latest issue of the New Yorker illustrates my work life:

New Yorker

Well, there's a lot going on and really nothing going on this week.

• As I sit here at the computer, a guy is out back installing a safety fence around the pool.  This is to keep the monkeymono from jumping/falling in and drowning.  It will be nice to have this taken care of.
• The issue of the ridiculous email I received last week, followed by the ridiculous fake apology, has resurfaced again.  This time the subject has been broached in correspondence between the culprit and a colleague/friend of mine.  The culprit has an amazing ability to dig himself deeper and deeper with each successive email.  It's an impressive skill.  So there is more drama, and I could get involved and try to actually do something about it.  But suffice to say that the culprit is so moronic, egomaniacal, and delusional that it's not worth my time or attention.  I am ignoring it and him.
  
• A good friend is in town at the moment and I got to go to dinner with her and others last night.  It was great to see her.  I'm hoping that I might get to see her again today or tomorrow, but I'm not holding my breath.
  
• Another good friend comes to town this weekend and we are planning to have breakfast with her and her hubby on Sunday.  Looking forward to that.
• I've got to get ready to start teaching summer school in two weeks.  And my brain is already spinning about how I am going to teach my graduate class this fall. 
  
• My coauthor and I are working hard on two papers at the moment.  Since she's moving out of state in a month, the clock is really ticking on these papers.  We're trying to get a lot done on a daily basis.  For paper number 1 we are in writing mode, trying to make it readable so that we can send it out for review very soon.  For paper number 2 we are in data mode, just trying to compile the dataset so that we can do some analysis so that I can present it at a conference in NYC this August.  I'm learning a lot.  It's kind of maddening, and overwhelming, but good.
• I'm in the middle of reading a New Yorker article about The Great Wall of China.  That might sound boring to you but I am really enjoying it.  It's fascinating.  If I just had time to finish reading the damn thing.
  
• Monkeymono turns 15 months this Sunday.  Wow. 
  

I guess that's it for now.  Maybe something more will hit me later in the day. I know you're excited so stay tuned.