Greetings from the anxious job seeker, bride-to-be, soon-to-be graduate, and soon-to-vacate.
I knew July-September 2008 for me was going to be a little crazy, but now that it is actually here I feel more overwhelmed by the day. I am ok day to day, but I definitely have moments where I space out for several seconds or even minutes thinking about all the stuff that is happening between now and October. Yes, October. Seems crazy, I know.
Well, bringing things down to present and near future time, I am working as steadfastly and diligently on my thesis as I can. In addition to that, I am trying to work as much as possible to make ends meet through the summer and fall. Nate does pick up quite a bit of the slack these days financially, but 'ol money-bags has a real job, unlike me at the moment. It is just a phase of graduate school poorness we will get beyond sometime soon. I knew I/we would be poor while I was in graduate school, but it DOES get old-- I promise you.
To remedy my poverty and push my life into its next stage I have applied for more than 2 dozen jobs already. Of course, I'm still pushing through the last of my graduate coursework (my thesis and one internship class with some odds and ends) which is rapidly coming to tight deadlines for completion. I'd like to be able to be completely done with everything before Nate and I get married, but reality tells me that I may very well be 'done', but my thesis may still need some revisions or formatting or something before the official publication/binding process. My defense, no doubt, will take place by this deadline, however. Thank god.
Anyhow, jobs. I cannot even remember all the places to which I have applied, but I finally got one good bite. I have an interview at the end of the month in Philadelphia at the University of Pennsylvania's Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology as a 'Keeper of the Near Eastern Section'. This is a Collections Management position, so for those of you not in the museum world, I would assist the curator and registrar in caring for and maintaining the everyday well-being of the museum's Near Eastern objects. If it works out, I can explain more, but... I am trying not to get my hopes up by hoping for the best, expecting the worst. Any of you who truly know me understand that I am a realist. I understand my odds are good at this point (I am probably in a veRRRy small pool of candidates, say 3-4), but it is still absolutely not a guarantee. This particular position would be a big step up for me and I would gladly accept it in an instant, especially since it is pretty much exactly what I want to do. So we'll see. This is all I know at this point, honestly, so that's that. As for all the logistics, hopefully the Museum would get back to me relatively soon so that Nate and I had at least a few days to figure out which direction our moving truck is going on August 14th. *Sigh*... So many questions, so few answers at this point.
If this job is a no-go, and I hear nothing else by that point (we must vacate our current place on August 14th and we're not staying in Columbia), our default plan is to move back to the Twin Cities and perhaps live at my grampa's old house until we have more definitive plans. Again, there is no way to tell.
Because of all the unanswered questions at this point, I am starting to feel very flakey towards people. It is not without good reasons, but that's how I feel. I don't like being flakey, either. I am really busy between work and working on my schoolwork, and wedding planning, and job searching (and now interviewing), and moving, and whatever else pops up. I always feel like I need to be doing something towards one of the aforementioned goals, so making plans is incredibly tough because I don't want to back out of things. I'd rather just not make plans and play things by ear these days. Some days I'm more stressed out than others and just want to be productive, whereas others I just want to rest. In any case, I hope people understand that I am thinking of them and I appreciate all the help and kindness I'm receiving (esp. towards wedding stuff), and things will calm down eventually. Really! <3
In other news, Nate and I will be traveling again back to MN for Nate's friend Chris's wedding. We're going to be in the cities for a few days at the end of the last full week/weekend of July. That last Sunday we'll travel back to Columbia, only for me to turn around and fly out to Philly that last Monday for a few days to interview and perhaps meet a good friend of mine (Maiden of Honour, fyi) currently living in Baltimore. I'll then come back to Columbia, again, and have 2 weeks to wrap up living here, literally.
That's the crazy update, if it does feel like I'm just posting my schedule in a way!
I just want to say thank you to everyone who is helping Nate and I with all of these activities in our lives. You mean alot to us and it is very much appreciated. :)
Take care,
c
