Happy Birthday Grant!

My yesterday, your today, was my cousin Grant's birthday. I was 13 when Grant was born and I remember it like it was yesterday. I was in 8th grade, sleeping before getting up for a school day. My mom called me to wake me up (she was often my alarm clock) and said she was at the hospital because baby Grant was born. I said 'oh cool, call me back in 5 minutes.' (I really liked to sleep). After waking up, and later seeing him in the NICU, I was very excited. He was born several weeks preterm and therefore spent a few weeks in the NICU before coming home. He was an itty bitty little sprout, weighing in at less than 5lbs. From that day on we have been very close and I hope we can continue to be forever. I believe he is going to dinner tonight to celebrate (its a wildly unusual thing for my family to go out to dinner, a rare treat for sure) so I hope he has a delicious dinner and enjoys the video games he bought himself. Love you!

No news is good news

Things have been pretty boring lately, and sometimes that is just how I like it. To update my last post, I found 2 jobs to apply to in Florida. They are both teaching positions at very small (I believe both private) schools. The first is Eckerd, in St.Petersburg, and the other is Flagler College in St. Augustine. Eckerd has about 1,800 students and Flagler about 2,500. Compare that with the 17,000 students at UNF and 35,000 at UGA. Applications for both are due by January 1st so hopefully I should hear within a couple months of coming back to the states. I'm going to keep my eyes open for other positions in FL, who knows what will open up!

In other news I have joined a local gym. It is literally a 5 minute walk from my house and has definitely kept me working. Its locally owned and is really just one big studio with a room in the back for cycling. I have been going to Pilates 2-4 times a week and then kettlebell (a weight class) or boxing once a week. There are only about 100 members so its very much like a little community. Funny enough, one of the instructors that I met is from....guess....that's right, Ft. Lauderdale! Such a small world.

I've also been talking to my housemates and they still want to do a Thanksgiving dinner. I'm not sure if we'll do it on the Thursday or wait until the weekend but either way, it will be nice to have something from home. I need to put together some sort of menu for that...any suggestions (besides the turkey!)?

A day of sun and contemplation

My afternoon reading and snack - a banana, p-nut butter, and nutella.

Today was one of the warmest days of Spring and first glimpses of approaching Summer in Melbourne. This afternoon it was around 83 F and it felt fantastic. I committed to an afternoon of leisure reading in the backyard and had to put on sunscreen several times, the sun was scorching!  I've been told that the sun is relentless here and that daily sunscreen is a must. Luckily I am a sunscreen fanatic so I have plenty.

The other part of my title - contemplation - has also been a prominent element of my days lately. It is that time of year that job openings are being spread around email listservs and the time that I should be deciding my next career move. There are a surprising number of faculty positions open for developmental psychologists (me) but I'm not convinced that a faculty position the place for me, at least not right now. My advisors from UGA have also told me that they didn't think I was very competitive for a top tier university so they recommended either applying to smaller schools or looking for a post-doc (an in-between position after Phd and before being a professor). There are several postings for schools in the northeast, the midwest, or other countries but I don't want to move to any of those places. And I don't want to move somewhere I don't particularly like for a job that I don't particularly like. I have yet to see a posting that was even close to fitting my skills and interests in Florida.  As most of you know I am already applying for a post-doc at The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD but it is a long shot and I should have back-up options. There is a faint, very very very faint, possibility that I could have a research position in a hospital in St. Petersburg but I'm not holding my breath for that one.

I'm terrified of spending even weeks unemployed when I get back to The States, much less months or longer. I have money saved, and will financially be fine, but I can't remember the last time I wasn't bringing in an income. I'm also not looking forward to living with my parents, even temporarily. As much as I love them, and the kids, and their dog Dewey,  I just can only handle living in a relatively small house with 5 people and 3 dogs for so long.

Every day that goes by I see on my to-do list "email potential jobs" telling myself that I should just start by applying to one or two positions, emailing people to create positions, and really just get the ball rolling. That has been on my to-do list for, oh I don't know, at least a month now. I know for those of you in my position I'm creating anxiety in you as you read this, sorry.

Alas, I think today is the day. I am aiming to write one complete cover letter and identify 5 potential places to send said cover letter in the next 5 hours. I'm hoping by the next time I post I can say I did it. In the meantime if you know anyone who is willing to just make these life decisions for me so that I don't have to, or perhaps wants to just give me money for no apparent reason, please send them my way.

Scaredy pups

This past week I got a picture from home of Tank. There have been a few thunderstorms lately and he is quite scared of them, so his go-to place is the cabinet behind the trash can (don't ask me how he gets back there). About a month ago I got a similar picture from Kate of Charlie during a thunderstorm. I just want to hug them and squeeze them!

Next adventure planned

I've been watching plane ticket prices for a while trying to plan my next adventure. After going down the Great Ocean Road, seeing Sydney, and living in Melbourne, I wanted to spend some time in tropical Australia. So, as prices went down yesterday, my fate was sealed. I'm going to Port Douglas! Port Douglas is right outside of Cairns and the Daintree Rain Forrest and is one of the main ports for going out to the Great Barrier Reef. I'm going alone so I'm going to treat myself to semi-nice accommodation (something better than a hostel) and plan on spending as much time on the beach as possible. I booked the trip for Jan 31- Feb 3rd, so it will be a fantastic end to my trip and provide me some much needed sunshine just two days before I head back into the Winter in The States. Oh, and its possible that I will rent a car to drive from Cairns to Port Douglas so I'm going to have to practice driving on the other side of the road. Wish me luck!

Baby Brewer is here!

Welcome to the world baby Brewer! A couple weeks ago one of my best friends, Mandy, gave birth to her first son, Jackson Pace Brewer. He's a tiny little guy but full of personality. Obviously I have known Mandy was pregnant for many months now and was fully aware that a baby was coming but when I got the message that he was born I was absolutely taken away. I burst into tears and felt this overwhelming sense of happiness for her and her husband, Chris. I already feel so connected to baby Jackson and cannot wait to meet him. This is a picture I stole from Mandy - somehow she looks this beautiful and well put together with a 1-week-old.


*By the way, I realize that I have started at least 3 previous posts with "..one of my best friends" but I really do consider each of the people mentioned my best friends. I have known several of them for years and am fortunate to have kept in close contact despite where our education and careers have taken us.