2011 in Review

This year has felt like a long one, likely because it was the first year that we weren't completely new to Boston.  Some memories of the year:

• We had lots of snow.  LOTS. OF. SNOW.  Even on April 1.  
• First big milestones: little AC aged out of playgroup and her early intervention home visits when she turned 3.
• My mom came to visit for A WHOLE MONTH.  We had lots of fun and the weather was great to her: she experienced chilly rain, hot days, humid thunder-and-lightning rainstorms, and even a tornado watch.  (That last one was REALLY scary for all of us.)
• Little AC started nursery school in June.  
• Also in June, I met a woman from New Orleans whose little boy had just started playgroup--my mom and I met her in the parent's lounge while observing our kids' transition into this new scenario.  We now have almost-weekly playdates, because we get along so well and our kids play together wonderfully.
• We got to see several friends from/at home, which very much brightened our spirits: Ms. M in June, in Quincy because a conference brought her here; my former colleague/good friend from my days on The Farm (he's a Mass native); and almost all of my closest friends when we went home--made even more special by the fact that one of them waited till we were in town to announce to the others (and us, of course) that she's expecting!
• Little AC started swim lessons in July and August, and I got to do weekly yoga for a while.
• I re-entered the workforce in a most unlikely fashion!  Who knew it would be ideal yet top-secret? (More on that in another post.)
• And finally, a memory from today: I found out that in order for us to get the first-time homebuyer's tax credit, we had to promise not to move for 2 years--I thought it had to be 5, but that's how long we simply have to own it!  YAY!!  That means if we could, we could rent it out and move back home next summer!

I enter the new year with hope.  Hope and gratitude.  My friend from New Orleans said to me as we left her apartment after a FIVE-HOUR playdate yesterday: "I told my friends that you are the best thing that's happened to me since we moved here."  WOW.  Time to bloom where I've been planted, if only till the next repotting.

Pax, friends.  May the new year bring all of you health and happiness.

This is Halloween

On Halloween, I got the most random surprise: a job offer!

The timing could not have been any better.  I had been applying to several schools and heard nothing (other than that Farm phone interview).  I was getting desperate.  Not that I want to go back to work outside the home, but it's starting to get a little tight with just one income.

So there I was, sitting in the car, having just pulled into the Target parking lot.  I opened my email and saw a former colleague's name, with the subject line "Random Question."  Oh geez, I thought, she must be tasked with coordinating one of the events I handled at my last job.  Imagine my surprise when after a brief, nice greeting (even spelling little AC's name correctly!), she basically said that she knew it was a long shot since we hadn't been in contact in almost two years, but her office at NYU was looking for someone to work from home part time, with a sense of humor and with basically grace under pressure!

After learning more about the job (and that the office is a peer institute to the one I worked for last), I expressed my interest in becoming a candidate.  Two weeks later, I was heading to NYC on a business-class express train, with the ACs on a different, non-express train (since obviously they only paid for me). It was the most bizarre experience ever: my former colleague had basically decided I was The One and had already started marketing me to the staff as her mini-me!  When I arrived, she ushered me back onto the elevator to go meet the director (who's on medical leave) at a nearby coffeehouse, where he simply asked what it was like assisting the former director of national intelligence and how I planned to work with a toddler in the house.  This took all of 15-20 minutes.  Next we had lunch at a funky, clubby Thai place with his chief-of-staff, which consisted of lots of laughter and descriptions of other staff.  Not being able to find the next person I was to chat with, we headed back out to another coffeehouse.  Finally, a quick chat with someone from the Afghanistan regional project, as I might be helping them coordinate conferences and events, and I was done.

Since I'll be hired as a research assistant (otherwise the school makes me join a union), the paperwork and bureaucracy has pushed my start date to December 16 instead of December 1.  I'll be basically helping book travel for the director, who has a heavy travel schedule, and other appointments as needed.  Then, sometime in late January/early February, I'll head back to  the office for a few days to see the action in person.

A little nervous as December 14 marks the two-year anniversary of my last day on The Farm, but excited to start making money and using my brain differently again!