a few hopefully non-lofty goals

its almost the end of march. which means its almost april. which means august is in 5 months or something. so i have set some lofty goals for myself.

1. fit into pants that i have moved all over the country more than one time. it would be great to be wearing those pants on this trip across the country. that will require me to drop 1 and 1/2 sizes. not sure if that's realistic in the time i have, but i'm going to try. guess that means no more skipping the gym. :)

2. finish the dissertation. i at least have to have a complete first draft of the whole damn thing before i move. that way i can send it to my committee and they can tell me what to correct and we can figure out a defense date so i can graduate in december.

3. figure out my syllabi. it would be nice to plan ahead for the courses that i'm teaching in the fall. i feel like i've been a "by-the-seat-of-my-pants" instructor so far in my career as adjunct and i would like to approach these courses with more intentionality. (is that a word?)

4. have some kind of fun-ass blow out with my ABQ friends. when i left TX to move here, it was very, very quick. i finished a stressful semester, went to iowa for two weeks, and then came back in a mad dash to pack my stuff and get to NM. so though i did have a few nights of fun with people at Northgate before i ventured off, the whole experience was so rushed that i barely processed that i was leaving. so i hope to catch up with everyone out here before i go and not in a "holy shit i'm leaving tomorrow and we must ingest coffee as fast as possible so i can see another person" way.

5. figure out boys. ha ha...that one is lofty. :D

6. sort through my stuff. i'll admit it, i have too much stuff. and i always say i'll go through it before i move again, and i end up going through some of it before i move, but there's still boxes of just...crap..that i need to sort through. this time i hope to really do it. maybe if i tackle a box a week. that's realistic right?

7. find a great apartment in dubuque. i'm looking for an inexpensive place in the downtown area with character. (not to be read as a total piece of shit...but rather one of those neat, older apartments instead the uniform, cookie-cutter variety).

i think that's enough goals for now. here's hoping i can get them finished. it will require me to get off of my current spring break schedule and to get up earlier and get to bed earlier as well. maybe tonight will be the first night. :D

"i'm waiting for my real life to begin"

the title for this blog comes from a really cool song by colin hay (who often has songs the show scrubs which automatically means they are good). it's a song that i find myself connecting to a lot lately. for more lyrics go here.

i suppose this song resonates because of some recent life changes that are on the horizon. as you know faithful readers, i've been on many interview trips including an impromtu trip on monday. the process culuminated yesterday with a decision. before said decision and after 9 days in texas, i was pretty gung ho about wanting the job in austin. but circumstances and choices have lead me on a new path...well, sort of new.

i'm excited to announce that i accepted my first full-time faculty position at my undergraduate alma mater. this school is near and dear to my heart since its where i spent my college days (well the first four years of them anyway). i made life-long friends there, became catholic there, learned a whole lot, and in so many ways my time there shaped where i'm at right now. it will be wonderful to be back and i know it will be a great fit...again. " i'm walking in my old footsteps, once again."

now, i'll be honest...i've loved living in new mexico and i have a great thing going here (aside from not having a job at the moment.) i've gotten accustomed to living in a larger city and i enjoy my mountain view. i also really like living near my favorite boy. so it will be hard to leave. luckily i have five months to hang out and have fun.

i also found out that my committee chair is going to be gone all summer, so i'm going to be graduating in december. still going to kick ass to get the dissertation written before i move. it will be hard to write and prep courses and adjust to a new life. its going to be fun to be closer to old friends and my family of course. it will be awesome to have a real job finally and be able to pay off debts and maybe by a house at some point. :)

anywho...that's the news.

"any minute now, my ship is coming in." or maybe it has? for now? :)

march madness and job madness

i've been spending the weekend with my friend brett which means that i've watch a lot more basketball that i normally do. the events of the weekend led me to actually make a few brackets for the ESPN tourney thing. maybe i'll win $10,000 with my very uneducated guesses.

if i don't, the chances of me getting a job are looking bright. i actually got an offer last week. because of that offer and the timing of it, i turned down an on campus interview for another school, and then traveled to texas to interview here on friday. i think the day went really well and i'm trying not to be overly optimistic that i'll get an offer hear. the kicker is that i won't find out until the 27th and i'm supposed to tell the first offer by the 19th. i called them today though and left a message about getting an extension (cross your fingers!). i had a call from faculty from the school i declined to call them to talk about the situation. i called them after the interview on friday and they REALLY REALLY want me to come to campus. so i'll be leaving from here on monday to go there and interview on tuesday. its all very crazy. i'm feeling like i'm suddenly in high demand after getting two rejections initially. i gotta say, its pretty cool. i'm hoping to get another offer, especially from the friday school.

i will of course keep you posted. gearing up now for SXSW music festival. woo to the hoo!!