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!