It hasn't been too bad! I like my new office, I feel very happy there and for the most part, I like the people. It has been a little slow to get off the ground, but I recall having that at one of the jobs that turned out to be my most prolific in terms of garnered experience; so I hope that will happen here as well. Already in two weeks (with two days off!) I have learned a lot about the world of non-profits, grants and fellowships, and there's so much more that I just don't know. It's an interesting place and of course filled with interesting people, all with multiple degrees. The irony of it is that I never told them about my masters coursework, that I am just a semester or so away from a masters degree of my own - albeit some 19 years in the past. Much of my work involved looking at financial statements and returns, and those accounting classes and business strategy assignments are all coming out of the foggy recesses of ancient memory banks.
In my poking and research, I stumbled across a ranking system for hiring. Having been advised to scale down my resume in terms of volunteering, so it wouldn't look like I was too distracted by life to be committed to work, I took out many of my community activities. I didn't mention the girl scouts, the Sunday school teaching, or the fact that I set up rooms and break them down for the homeless guests when they stay in our church once every few weeks. The ranking system gave points for community service! I somehow managed to score a few anyway, I guess the high school work was relevant enough to count for that. But it's funny how you never know what will get you a foot in the door.
But after seeing that ranking system, I feel very fortunate to have found this job at all! After the many blind rejections from positions for which I know I was qualified, I can see that there's a tendency to look to the younger workers - they can be trained in the ways you like, they bring no bias, and they're just - well - younger looking!
Anyway that is my life for the moment. Interesting developments every day but I plod along. The hour-long drive is tedious, but it could be worse. It's broken into three sections, so I usually feel like it moves along. There are just a few patches of heavy traffic to get through a few intersections, or passing by school zones. The next couple of weeks, and then the summer, should be a little lighter as far as that goes.
As for M, she is set for next year with an off-campus apartment. She and her friends wanted to get a quad but they all had such terrible lottery numbers that all that remained were singles, some of them in the YMCA. So the housing office granted them an exception and they are able to live off-campus. They just have to prove that they have a lease, which now they do. We just happened to be in Boston when this all went down, so we got hold of a broker who was recommended by another parent, and she found them two one bedroom apartments in the same building, one directly above the other. So they won't share an actual common space, but they can pop in on each other all the time, and they'll also each have a little space for quiet if they need it.
B continues to torment me with his ways. After stumbling in three classes and being in danger of failing those for the marking period, he was left at home by himself to catch up while we went to Boston. Apparently one of the other classes, one of the ones which was supposed to buoy his GPA up to a level where he could actually appear semi-attractive to a semi-decent school, had an assignment: complete and turn in the study guide (posted online) for a test Monday and get four points added to your grade. Not only did he not do this and therefore fail to get the four points, but he never saw the assignment and failed the test! So, now he is down in that one. It's extremely frustrating. We have our semi-annual appointment at the neurologist this week. So in addition to the usual anxiety over neurological intactness, now I am going to once again revisit the issue of ADD and possible treatment.
And in other news, it's time to plan for summer. M will be home in less than a month, and we have to figure out what to do with B. He won't be eligible for his driver's license in time to get himself to a summer job, so I'm not sure what to do about that. Last summer worked out well with the volunteering but I won't be in that same location this summer and I'm not familiar enough with my new work area to settle him around there. There's the tennis camp, which he can do, and maybe a sleep away camp for either tennis or computers. But those are expensive, and at this point it's pretty late to make those kinds of plans. M will go back to the beach and can drive him places on her day off, but we don't yet know what that will be. And she needs to think of these things too - getting ready to apply for coops in September should include some sort of volunteer work in her field or at least something related. So she will have to get right on that when she comes home at the end of April.
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