Thursday, October 13, 2022

"there and back again"

Usually our hikes are fun and funny excursions, but a couple of times this week, Big A and I have come back from our trip to Sparty mad at each other. It's always the same thing too: he thinks we should all move to Milwaukee; I think not. 

I get that I make a fraction of what he does, but I'm actually the one who enjoys their job. Plus, Nu is halfway through high school (muddled though the experience has been); At is close by (at least for now); and Scout and Huck are comfortable where we are now (and how much they'd enjoy the yard was one of the reasons we moved here).

On the other hand, I miss him; I get how tedious the travel to and fro is for him; and I know having a second home and travel/commuting adds to our expenses...

Anyway... 

Nu and I got our boosters and flu shots. I'm not feeling like a zombie yet!

Pic: Fall color along the Red Cedar.
 

6 comments:

Nicole said...

I'm sorry, Maya, that is a hard one. Especially with Nu in high school. Such a hard time to move a child! Mind you, sometimes it can be great - I switched high schools in grade eleven and I'm happy I did, but that wasn't because of a move, it was a choice. But moving is SO hard! Uprooting everything! Plus, you love your job. Sometimes it is a hard chapter and it will get easier in the next chapter - maybe in time? I don't know, I am babbling, but I just want to send love to you. It feels like you are having a really difficult time of late. xo

maya said...

Nicole--I keep going around in these same circles in my head, so hearing you say it feels validating. Appreciate you and your loving soul SO MUCH, my friend. XOXO

StephLove said...

That sounds like a thorny conflict, but moving as a teen is hard. (We moved when I was 13 and it was difficult to make friends again.) Moving an academic is just as hard, if not harder, unless the job market in the humanities has changed significantly since I was a professor.

maya said...

Thanks, Steph. A move could be good for Nu; it could also be disastrous. Doesn't feel like something I want to risk right now.

And *that's* exactly it with the job problem! I lucked out once, I doubt it'll happen again. I have been thinking about alt-ac possibilities since I can't imagine lucking out at the teaching roulette thing again.

StephLove said...

A friend of mine gave up a tenure track job when her husband got a job in a new city and she never found another one. (And then he left her for another woman, but that's another story.) I never had a tenure track job, but I was a full-time, temporary assistant prof for 4 years (after 4 years as an adjunct at the same university) and that was the end of the road for me. The work I do now (mostly writing marketing materials for dietary supplement companies) is okay. I don't love it, but it's flexible and it's a paycheck. I did love teaching.

maya said...

I'm sorry Steph, that is unfair--you put in all the work and you loved teaching. I hope it's not hurtful. And how doubly sucky for your friend!

(I *still* feel bad that the U where I'd adjuncted for 3+ years would not even consider me for a full-time position.)

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