to work or not to work

This past week I had lunch with an old co-worker/dept chair at Trinity. She told me that a higher number of students than expected enrolled in science classes...including psychology! She had a meeting in the middle of our time together that I said she should go to--I just chatted with other teachers in the cafeteria. When she came back she officially offered me a position teaching one section of psych next year. That was quite a nice surprise. I said I needed to talk it over with Ezer but that I was very interested. The only thing is that we'd need to figure out childcare. There's this other high school job I've applied to. I let them know about the Trinity offer. They're off this coming week but they set up an interview with me on the 29th. I could possibly teach two part-time jobs but then time really becomes an issue. I would like the opportunity to become a better teacher--the first year is always a bit rough. And there are things I would do differently or like to try. I wasn't planning on putting Simone in full-time childcare. And I'd like to at least break even in terms of finances. I brought Simone with me to lunch and she was a hit with all. Sidenote: the headmaster at Trinity passed away this week from complications after a heart transplant.

This week we also had dinner with Lynn and Chris which was really nice--they go back to China soon. A friend who is a pilates instructor suggested some stretches for my back. We had a couple beautiful warm days--Simone and I went shopping on the LES, went to parents group, lunch, a walk in Riverside Park, and played in two different playgrounds. I've been working hard on my survey work and revising a chapter. Saturday was beautiful as well but I stayed inside all day working.

Re: the chapter. This chapter is one I worked on my last year of grad school. Despite several reminders my advisor never gave me any feedback. The editor kept writing asking about it. Finally, a couple weeks ago she wrote again saying all the other chapters were in and even revised. Not surprisingly, my advisor said she didn't have time to work on it but that I could do it if I wanted by myself. I e-mailed the editor with the draft I had and asked if she'd take a look at it to see if she thought it would be possible to get it ready in 2-3 weeks. She said yes and gave me some good feedback (in two days, whereas my advisor didn't do squat in two years). My husband was kind enough to look at it as well.

Last night E and I saw a musical called Passing Strange.

"The musical, according to press notes, 'is the moving and hilarious story of a young black bohemian on a journey of escape and exploration that takes him from his middle-class, church-reared youth in South Central L.A. to the drug-laced world of sex in Amsterdam to the art and anarchism of Berlin — with a bevy of eye-opening experiences and life lessons along the way.'"

It was different in that there was a narrator who spoke musically and not much dialogue. The set was minimal and I liked that the four musicians had a prominent role on the stage--plus the bass player was female which I think is cool.

This Wednesday we're watching a play called Emancipation about Nat Turner. One cool aspect is that it's going to be at the Audubon Theater which has an important historical connection to Malcolm X.

I finished Season 2 of The Wire--liked the first one better; but it is nice revisiting with old "friends" in the characters.

This was Simone's third week in the nursery. They had to come get me--everyone commented on how loud Simone was and how long she could last. Yep, that's my girl.



Actually, in this photo I'm trying to get a picture of her first tooth that's coming in. Can you see it?