The View From Kalamazoo

This weekend had a date with my husband. Whoda’thunk’it?

My folks came in Friday for Emma’s lab adventure at Borgess (renal ultrasound, VCUG), which went surprisingly well comparend to past VCUGs – a combination, I suspect of her being older, being on adderall since Nov., and my talking the Ped. into giving her a small dose of valium. Good news, prelim. – I watched the screen and saw no signs of the vesicoureteral reflux that had been surgically corrected two years ago this Thanksgiving. Yay! We see the specialist in a month, but I was hoping the UTI was a random occurance and not a sign that something had gone not right with the surgery (bilateral ureteral reimplantation). So this was the fourth VCUG (catheter, dye, imaging..nastiness) and our pattern as been that Dad and I hold Em down while she screams like they’re killing her they cath and stuff. Mom bursts into tears – she’s SO not good in this sort of situation. Bri. hadn’t been able to get the time off work for the earlier ones, so since Dad and I have it under control he’s a lucky bastard off the hook. Afterward we drove to the sitter’s house, picked up Colin, and they took the children and their bags and all of the necessary baby paraphenalia AWAY! They had them the whole weekend, discovered all of the things they have in their house that is just within reach of a toddler on the move, and will need to sleep for a month to recover. HA!

We went out to eat – Red Lobster. Buttery, garlicky goodness, beer (Newcastle, none of that PBR swill!), appetizer…SO not on my diet. SO wonderful. Sat. we drove to Ann Arbor so Jeanne could have her way with my head (copper highlights!), then to Red Roof close to my parent’s house. [note to self: never stay there again. uuugh.] Bummed around, wandered The Mall From Hell, enjoyed more meals that didn’t resemble my diet whatsoever…yay. Picked the kids up, then to BC so I could do his Grandma’s grocery shopping and home. Can’t afford to do it very often, but it’s a Nice Thing when we can.

Gym this morning – most of the usual workout (no super-setting, sinuses way too unhappy for my quick movement and any bending over. uuuuugh). Today’s weight: 268.5. 🙁 Up, yes, but after this weekend I expected it, and don’t regret a thing. SO worth it.

Other catching up: So I sent out a slew of email last week to particular scholars I think I might be a good fit with at schools I think may be a good for me. I also sent email to someone whose work I dig but who is not at a school that would be a step up for me, but he offered very helpful advice and for that I am very grateful. I met him at Congress some years back – very nice man, but very cranky when blood sugar is low. Then, of course, so am I. 🙂 He directed me to check Wisconsin out, and some folks in Canada who are top notch, but the difficulty of moving my family to another country really prevents me from even considering anything there. There are logistics that are totally possible before partner and children…I’m not of the ‘oh ______ is easy ’cause you’re single!’ camp, I know better than that, but _______ is often a very different situation with people depending on me NOT blindly following my whims and dreams. Can’t just take off and bum around Europe for a month now, either, you know? Anyway, so far I’ve received favorable responses from Kentucky, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Staint Louis Univ. Luke-warm reponse from Michigan. I’m hesitant to apply to Northwestern because of paperwork difficulties I’ve had there in the past, but K will write me about a new dealie they have, and so I wait to hear from him. He’s too much of a gem to just write off. Have decided against New Mexico totally, and Arizona. I’m still keeping WMU as a my-husband-and-I-will-still-be-employed-and-have-insurance back-up plan (although I recognize it’d look like the worst sort of back-woods inbreeding) plus I could still do that second masters in Educational Technology here, which could be of use later. The application game is largely my ability to get money together for GRE scores and app. fees at this point, I’m afraid. No matter how important my job appears to a medievalist sending in Congress forms I’m still paid like a mere secretary at a state school. Once upon a time, many, many years ago I painted the back of jean jackets for extra cash (oil paint, fantastical designs a la sci-fi covers), and there are some days that I wish I had kept up on my silly money-making schemes, since that extra cash would really come in handy right about now. Bah.