A good problem to have

The job interviews went well.  I really liked the people and school in the coldest place but the geographic location to a job for Mike was not ideal.  I really liked the location of the not as cold place but the school/department were not ideal.  Both schools offered me jobs.  I have been thinking and rethinking what taking these jobs would mean.  Job 1 (cold) would provide me with a lot of professional satisfaction with excellent colleagues and excellent support but our quality of life would be less because of hour long commutes for both Mike and I.  Job 2 (less cold) would be a great quality of life near family and 20 min commutes for both of us but I see real challenges at that school and professionally I would not be as happy.  So what do I do???

After days of agonizing over this decision (and ruining my vacation in California) we have decided that in this case nothing is better than either job.  I have two potential job interviews coming up which only gives me a 1/3 chance of getting a job but I'm going to be picky.  I said I was going to try this college professor thing but in the end, quality of life with my family is the most important thing to me.

If you can, keep your fingers crossed that one of the others works out otherwise our adventures will continue in NC.

Happy Holidays!

Update

I leave Sunday for two job interviews (back to back).  Both in cold places :(  But since I didn't apply to any jobs in NC or south of NC I shouldn't be surprised by this.  It is just hard, after 10 years, to think about dealing with snow again.  Mike assures me that if we moved to CA this wouldn't be a problem.  Unfortunately no jobs in CA either.  I've also had 3 phone interviews in the last week and a half but won't know if I will be invited to campus for those until after Christmas.  I wish academics jobs search would try and coordinate a bit better....  I'll let you know how it goes!

Happy Thanksgiving

This year we were fortunate to spend Thanksgiving with our friends Caryn and Andy.  We actually cooked dinner at Caryn's parents house in Cary since the kitchen was bigger than both of our tiny apartment kitchens combined.  They let us bring Cali over so she wouldn't be alone all day.  She had a good time but she had to share the space with their two cats so it was likely less than ideal for her.  Cali got along well with Orange Kitty but not as well with their other cat, Watson.  Caryn did an awesome job cooking the bird and all the fixin's.   We spent the evening by the fire watching a James Bond film and had a great time.  I think Cali could get used to this kind of living.  Doesn't she look comfy in front of the fire??

Orange Kitty

Here is the double layer pumpkin cheese cake I made.  It was awesome.

Even More Good News!

Another campus interview has been scheduled, unfortunately putting the two interviews back to back but I'll make it work.  And another phone interview for yet another job in MA.  Looks like I just needed to be patient.

Good news!

I have a campus interview for a very cool job!  I'm so excited.  It is going to be very busy with the holidays and my conference coming up but I keep telling myself not to focus on that part of it.  I also still have a phone interview on Tuesday for that job in MA.

Thanks for keeping your fingers crossed.  It seems to be working :)

Another Chance.

I have two more phone interviews for next week!  I'm so excited.  Hopefully I'll be able to get campus interviews from these and maybe even a job.  My enthusiasm for the job search has been reinvigorated! Keep your fingers crossed for me...one of them is in MA!

No Go

Now I know for sure. I did not get invited for a campus interview for that phone interview I had last week.  Back to applying for more jobs.  I'm not used to this much rejection.  Actually I think I would be okay with rejection if they would actually reject me to my face.  Instead these places are just not saying anything and I have to find out through blogs that candidates have been invited to interview.  Why are academics so rude?