A Whirlwind of Children

The past 24 hours have seen my children come and gone. Currently the house is empty. I have oxtail stew simmering on the stove, my puppy at my feet, and I've spent the afternoon playing with images and Photoshop.

Pumpkin arrived first. She is up for the weekend and trying to see everyone she loves and misses. She came by our house on Friday afternoon and we chatted and then shopped for dinner. We picked b up at his job and then he made us an amazing dinner. It was Pumpkin's choice: chicken marsala but he also threw in some home-made bruschetta for an appetizer. Pumpkin stayed and entertained us until it was time for her to go out with her friends.

Angel showed up at around midnight. He drove up after he got out of work. I made up a bed and then sat up talking with him for another hour. This morning b cooked us all a yummy egg breakfast and the two of them packed the last of his belongings into his car. b is an amazing packer and can get just about anything on a car roof. Angel drove off at around 1 pm with a queen mattress and frame strapped to the roof of his little Nissan.

They are both gone now but with promises of future visits. Pumpkin is coming back up next weekend for a haircut and we are trying to schedule a special mother-daughter weekend at her house. Angel wants b and I to come down and see his new place. He will also be coming up for my birthday/mothers' day weekend.

They are out of the house but I've heard from both of them several times this afternoon. Pumpkin was shopping and taking her little sister ice-skating and just wanted to chat in between. Angel arrived safely home and promptly headed out to Ikea with his roommates to buy furniture. We had to negotiate prices and banking transfers over the phone. First purchases for first apartments are very exciting.

They are gone. The house is quiet. I have my projects and my work to amuse me while b works late and tomorrow we have a lovely day planned.

At the moment that feels like enough.

It's All Over Except For The Certified Letter

Wednesday I got the notification that my tenure decision has sailed through the Provost and the Chancellor. All that has to happen now is for the Board of Trustees to rubber-stamp it and send me the official notification--through certified mail. That should happen sometime this month.

The tenure process is so long and drawn out that each milestone seems uneventful. I barely mustered a smile when I read the email (it didn't help that I was courting a migraine). However it seems this particular milestone is the one that "counts." The head of my department send an email to all faculty stating that both myself and my colleague are now tenured. I've been congratulated several times over--through email and in person--ever since.

Don't get me wrong, it is great to have job security (especially in today's climate) and to have the support of my colleagues. I treasure both and I love my job but the news is anti-climatic and it is hard to celebrate. My life is no different from one day to the next. It feels less like an event has happened and more like an event has been avoided. Nonevents (not losing your job) are hard to celebrate.

It will be interesting to see how much and in what ways tenure makes a difference in my life. I do believe it will, as I have seen it with others, but I don't think it affects you the way you think it will when you are working towards getting it.

In other news, Angel is supposed to be coming tomorrow to move out the last of his possessions. So April begins with me officially becoming an empty-nester with tenure. It seems like I should now have enough time to do something really remarkable. Is it wrong that all I feel like doing is lying in the sun with a Guinness and my hubby?