I love Christmas break, and I had a great time in Chicago and Michigan with family and friends, but when everyone else is back at work and I'm still sitting at home... it kinda sucks. Especially because I didn't have my car for a few days and was stuck at home with nothing to do. I shouldn't say nothing. I have super cleaned my room (dusted, vacuumed, and rearranged some things) and prepped for the semester more than usual. Master copies of ALL assignments and handout have been printed and organized in my brand new binder so all I have to do is make photocopies throughout the semester. I even set up my online gradebooks down to every detailed assignment and participation point and am prepared to give my students access codes to track their grades online. Look at me go.

So with all this great prep - I am ready for classes! Yesterday I went over to one of my schools of employment where I will be an Academic Advisor this semester instead of an instructor. (I'm teaching at two schools and advising at a third. Busy!) Especially after this brief meeting involving paperwork and setting up my advising schedule for the semester, I feel ready. That half hour was the most alive and purposeful I've felt since I got back from my travels a week and a half ago. Part of it was being in a campus environment. Part is the excitement of a new job and challenge. And part was how welcoming and validating the other staff were. I met a few other advisors who all welcomed me warmly. And the head of advising, who I have been training with since Thanksgiving, had some very complimentary things to say. Ordinarily, part time advisors like myself need to also be teaching at the school during the semesters they advise. The way the cards fell this semester left me with no classes at this particular school due to scheduling and low enrollment. I was pretty disappointed. But the head of advising recommended me to the dean as a potentially strong advisor specially because he said I have a welcoming presence. He insisted that you can teach the computer stuff, the rules and details of course scheduling and prerequisites. But you can't teach the heart, the caring for the students. Once in awhile, it's really nice to hear that kind of thing.

On top of that, I've gotten some very kind compliments from colleagues who are writing my reference letters for my ongoing full-time professorship search. I just have to keep crossing my fingers that I land one someday (sooner rather than later). This is what I'm good at. This is what I want to do. Maybe what I'm meant to do. And I feel validated about that regularly. So it has to work out as a full-time career one of these days - right? Here's hoping.

New Years Resolutions 2010

Well my Christmas miracle came through. I flew home standby on Dec. 23rd and spent a lovely two weeks with family and friends in Chicago and Michigan, including family holidays, a nephew's hockey game, sledding with my sister, sister-in-law, and nephews, and NYE at my favorite Michigan microbrew with dear, dear friends. But now it's 2010 and I'm back in New Jersey and ready to get serious about the new year.

I don't usually make new years resolutions because I tend not to keep them. But last year, Kyle and I resolved not to eat at chain restaurants and we did very well. We started eating out less overall, which is simply because we live in the same place and cook together alot. But I think we also managed to go the whole year only eating at TGIFriday's once (with a buy one get one coupon), Applebees once (with friends for drinks), and Bonefish Grill twice (which is a chain, but neither of us had ever eaten there before). Not bad.

This year, I have a few little resolutions/goals. Like keep going to the gym regularly/more, write poems, put together a chapbook of poems and start submitting it for publication... but I have one, big, main resolution which I have a feeling is going to be tough but I'm determined to keep. No more shopping.

Yes, you read correctly. No more. However much I try to cut back or only buy things I really want, I still spend more than I should. When I'm having a rough day, a trip to Target or the mall always seems to cheer me up. This is not a healthy outlet. And over the last few months I've been tracking my spending and found that my "personal" category is a little higher than I think it should be. So in 2010 I resolve to only buy what I need - food, toiletries, etc. I can only buy clothes or shoes if my existing clothes and shoes become unwearable. And by this I mean I cannot buy a new pair of jeans unless ALL THREE pair I currently own have holes in them. I cannot buy new cute black shoes unless EVERY pair of black shoes I own falls apart. No purses. No jewelry. Nothing.

I think if I can make it through the year with this, I'll be much more mindful in the future of what I am buying and when. And the real purpose of this whole endeavor is to pay off credit card debt. I have three cards carrying a balance, and if I apply my usual frivolous spending money to paying one card, I am confident I can reasonably pay it off by the end of 2010, if not sooner. Which, I think, would motivate me to keep paying off my debt in large chunks and I could be credit card debt free by the time I turn 30. (Now my student loans are another story, but with lower interest rates I don't feel like those are hanging so heavy over my head).

So here we go. Wish me luck!...