Almost New Year's

New Year’s is approaching, and I can’t bring myself to work this evening so I thought I would write instead, maybe start a new journal. So much has happened in the last few months! Sometimes you actually do get what you ask for – I wanted a little change, and now my life is basically inside out. At least it’s not upside down.

The college finally offered me a full-time position, so I start next month as a full-fledged faculty member after seven years of adjunct teaching. I’m relieved – I didn’t really want to move out-of-state, and it looked like I would have to for a while. Now I can stay where I am, and continue to strengthen the web design program I started back in 1997.

I’m thirty-four years old and I feel like I’m verging on adulthood finally, after years and years in a remedial program for wayward twenty-somethings. For the first time in over a decade I’ll have a steady paycheck. My starting salary is nothing to shout about, but it doesn’t include summer teaching or extra service. This year, while working as a visiting scholar at base salary, I made a consierable amount -- and spent almost all of it. I’m trying to do better this year, especially in light of another new opportunity.

R. , one of my mentors at school, has married after thirty years of single life. She is planning to spend this semester living at her lake house with her new husband, and has offered to let me house-sit all semester. At the end of the semester, if I want to, she will finance her house so I can purchase it. I’m stunned. I love this house, and it’s only five minutes from campus. It needs some work, but it’s livable now, excepting the soon-to-be-remedied lack of high-speed Internet.

My grandmother Mary Ethel passed away on December 17th of a heart attack. I miss her. She lived a very full life, and even at the end she managed to wring some enjoyment out of living. She didn’t let all the petty day-to-day stuff keep her from enjoying life. She’s a role model for everyone who knew her.

My other grandmother, who has a far less happy existence, is now living in a nursing home in Kauffman.

I am unexpectedly reaping benefits from so much turmoil, sorrow, and upheaval. Dad has arranged to rent his mother's house to help with nursing home payments, so we had to clean it out. All her furniture and personal belongings were divided among myself, the twins, and Mom and Dad. I have ended up with a fantastic Arts & Crafts library table, a Lane console table from the 50s, a washer and dryer, and two filing cabinets. I also have some paint, some dishes, and other miscellaneous items. My maternal grandmother left several things behind, too, so from her I have a kitchen table and chairs, a clock, a flashlight, and other small things. Nearest to my heart is the nail clipper set I used to clip her finger- and toenails. I was the only one of her visitors who could see well enough to perform this service.

So I have a house (even though it is still largely filled with R.’s things) and a job and a paycheck.

What more could I ask for?