Thursday, July 26, 2007

More confusion

Those of you who were regular readers of my old blog may recall the competition for my favors a few months ago, dueling invitations for conferences on different continents. I wound up attending the one in England, in part because they were earlier in their invitation, and had sooner assured me of funding (though to be honest, I've yet to receive a reimbursement). It was a wonderful trip, quite a treat to be part of a conference where I was one of the leading lights, and not merely a hanger-on.

I just received a note from the other conference organizer in Canada saying she hoped to reopen the conversation. Apparently, their inaugural event was a great success, and they're planning to hold another one, tentatively scheduled for next June. She wanted to entice my interest, and invite me to draft up a proposal for something that would fit into to their planned events, where I could participate as invited faculty. It's new and I confess quite pleasing to be pursued in this way. ("Close a door, and someone's sure to knock.")

Thus my /scholar/professor comes back to goad me. I've been working on my class syllabi for Lemon University today. One unexpected boon from the au pair trials, is that we'll actually have someone to watch the boys during the day over the next two weeks. M will be returning to Germany for a couple weeks, to visit family and friends, and most importantly the U.S. Embassy to receive her student visa. I had expected to watch the boys most of that time, meaning no chance for course prep (or research).

Since we've got arriving on Saturday, other than a few days of transitioning, during which I'll spend all or most of the days at home, I'll be back working on a normal schedule. M moves out tomorrow evening. Then we pick up D at the airport the following day.

Do we ever settle into one sort of being?

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