Ahh, the future.

So, recently I've been thinking a lot about the future: what job will I have? Will I pursue a Ph.D. immediately or wait a year or two? Kids? If we move, where will we move? Do we want to stay in Winston, or go somewhere else?

I think the basis of this is coming from the amount of change happening around me: I suddenly have lots of friends in the area (that's really odd to me - I've always had lots of long-distance relationships); I love my house, and while I have great ideas for it, I wonder what I'd be able to do with a larger house; one set of friends is officially separated, another is having a scary disagreement right now; people I know are having babies; my parents might think about retiring soon . . .

So, anyone know of any good Ph.D. Higher Ed programs out there? Anyone hiring a marketing coordinator/manager for decent money? (Did I tell you how thrilled I was with the $1098 bonus that I'm getting from the state this year???) There's a position which does almost exactly what I do in Connecticut for $43,000+ a year. . . I seriously considered Connecticut for about 5 minutes after seeing that posting - until I found out how much I'd have to spend to live there.

And, I'm not teaching swimming in the fall. Turns out, the college thinks it's too difficult to figure out my time (since I actually have to keep it - did I tell you that I'd really like to be professional staff? Then I'd get a 4.5% raise instead of a $1098 bonus -read: repeating money vs. one-time money.) So, although I really enjoy it, I'm not going to have a great two-hour break in the middle of the week any longer, and unless I can get my boss to let me leave at 4:30 every day, I won't be getting a decent parking spot any longer either.

Oh well. I'm disgruntled, and I can keep whining, but I bet you guys don't want to hear that. So, I'll either do something about it or shut-up.