new year full of new news

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. It's been a busy couple of weeks since the last time I wrote. Husband got himself a shiny new job, for one thing. He wasn't really looking for one, but when the right opportunity presents itself, you'd be silly not to pursue. His new job is in our same city and is even physically located near his old office building, so our day-to-day routine won't change too much. However, this job will provide him with some diverse experience for his resume that we hope will help him a lot in the future, and it will help us with our long term plans and goals, too. Pretty great news for Christmas time, right?

As for me, I've been doing a lot of thinking about what I want to do with my post PhD career. Honestly, I'm not sure. Thing is, I don't really care for doing research and writing papers, and that's pretty much what you have to do to be a tenure-track professor. I like the teaching aspect but don't like the research aspect. Should I become a lecturer instead? Or an adjunct? A consultant? A combination of both? A flexible career would be my ideal, but isn't that everyone's ideal? Time will tell where I go with this... We'll see. Many people would tell you that getting a PhD if you don't intend to become a professor is a waste. I don't see it that way. I do and always have seen it as a personal accomplishment. I came, I learned, I conquered. Now I can make my own path and have many more options -- including becoming a research-oriented professor. I mean, I could just be temporarily burnt out from SO MUCH focus on research with my dissertation. But looking back, I can't really ever remember having a passion for it...

And lastly, here's the news people always wait for when a blog goes silent for months. Usually it's because the blogger is pregnant. In this case, I have to say that my blog has been silent (semi-silent) for other reasons, namely those mentioned in my last post back in December. I'm enjoying being *just a reader*.

So that's a separate issue from the news that I actually am pregnant. This will not be a pregnancy blog or a mommy blog. Believe it or not, I have no desire to write about my experience for an audience. Maybe because I don't want to scare anyone (it's not been fun). But to appease you, baby is the size of a papaya, you know the drill. Imagine a picture of me covered with acne, wearing ill-fitting clothes, and looking decidedly bloated and miserable, and holding said fruit.

Since I know people will ask, here are the answers.
Due? June
Gender? Girl
Planned? Yes (and rude of you to ask).
Glowing? No.
[Insert undesireable pregnancy symptom here]: Yes.
[Insert awesome pregnancy symptom here]: No.
Bump picture? No. Maybe sometime... see Instagram.
Cravings? Potato Oles from Taco Johns. Cherry Icees.

And yes, I am excited and happy about it. It's just thus far been hard to reflect it outwardly when I've spent the last 5 months feeling like you have a hangover*, and a migraine, and the skin of a 14 year old, and an out of control weight problem.

But still: baby girl! We are anxiously awaiting her arrival.

How was everyone's Holiday?

*I know it's one's nature to want to help, but please don't sugged that x, y, or z helped your 'morning sickness'. I am/have been at the "up the dosage on those prescriptions and try combining them" level. Not the "gingerale & apples" level.