It's been two months since I said farewell to my fancy job. I don't want to go back. Not even a little. (I also didn't miss science benchwork for even one little minute.) At the same time, hey, this is kind of lonely! Who knew!
I have no real friends in Cold City. Transient, academic, was working, no time, etc. I go to mommy things but I only have acquaintances really. I miss my mama. I miss my dad. I miss my sisters.
I miss my friends from home, even though we've all changed a lot over the years. My friend A is divorced, a single mom, become very brittle. My friend C is a SAHM; her husband is getting a PhD on the same usefulness level as "History of Lost Atlantis", and they have 2 kids and food stamps, and writing gives him panic attacks, and he wants to be an academic. I still love her, but I don't respect her. My friend R has a newborn. I think I'm mourning the loss of how it used to be in some ways.
The Bug is teething. This means hours of screaming every day ("Do not hit Mama with a spoon. Gentle. Gentle. I am taking away the spoon." "AaaaaaAAAAAAH!").
The 15,000 half-finished house projects don't help much either.
It's hard to be a parent without a strong support network. I guess we are fixing that problem by simply moving...
ReplyDeleteWish I could be there so we could have play dates!
I had to comment because my kid is "The Bug" as well. Maybe this is more common than I thought, but I still had to say something!
ReplyDeleteI've just begun reading your blog and saw the recent post on Science Editing. I'm nearing the end of my PhD and have beautiful fantasies where I'm a stay-at-home mom science editor, with a giant garden and a chicken coop somewhere in the country. It's awesome. So your realization that everyone wants post-doc experience makes me nervous... did you only look into editing articles for journals? Or did you pursue other editing/writing options, like newspapers, magazines, technical writing, textbooks, etc.?
I just wanted to pop over and say thanks for your comment. I really appreciate the information (and the time it took to put all that together). I'm feeling much better about the whole situation, and I have a phone consult with my OB on Monday to get his imput as well. Thanks again!
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