Oops – not starting off 2009 that good! I just noticed how long it has been since I last posted here. Not much to say, other than it has been snowing for the week – and there is a lot more on the way. Good thing George and I like to shovel….
Okay – let’s see… the academic job market is drying up – and that is not a good thing. At least not for me. I even toyed around with the idea of staying in South Bend and getting a non-academic job, just to be able to settle down. We looked at houses online (and may I say there are some nice inexpensive out here), but have decided to wait one more year. Whew. The ‘deal’ would have been we stay out here, but spend summers in MA. Since we can get a nice house for 100k out here, there would be enough money to buy a (small) summer cottage back east. That is not a bad deal. We’ll see how the job market goes….
Other than that, Christmas was nice. It was good to see my parents and close friends again. The most memorable ‘event’:
For months before Christmas, I have been trying to hunt down a varsity coat with dogs on it for my godson (4 years old). Two years ago, I got him an NIU coat from Steve and Barry’s with huskies on the back. Well, he out grew it, but loves his doggie coat. So even though I moved to South Bend, IN (3 hours away from DeKalb), I was still on the hunt for the coat. Then Steve and Barry’s announced they were closing the store, and this was before the winter gear came in. A friend of mine stopped in to see if by any chance they were there, but no luck.
So I had been searching high and low online for a similar coat. No luck again.
The last chance was Steve and Barry’s in Taunton, MA. Maybe they would have an NU (Northeastern University, also the huskies) coat. So on Dec. 23 our first stop in Massachusetts was there, but hey did not have an NU coat. However, they did have UMass coats, but on the back there was a minuteman, not a dog. Okay,we’ll give this a shot I thought, but I didn’t think he would like it because there were no dogs on it (you know how kids are).
Well, on Christmas day, we went to Bob and Carol’s house, and Jayden opened up the presents. He looked at the coat, and Jen (his mom) said “look Jayden – it’s just like you old coat!” Jayden looked at it and said “no it’s not [at this point I take a big breath in] – it’s better!” I smiled. A very big smile, and a deep sigh of relief!
Okay – I gotta get some work done…
Happy New Year!!!
Georgette's musings 