Working Gal (w.Belly)

Feeding Bryozoan

Compound Tunicates

Under the Dock

So, not a lot of blogging lately, mostly because I've been back to work. Funny how work takes it out of a gal. I feel like I did in the beginning of this adventure, like coming home, sitting on the couch, and not moving at all until I pull myself into bed! The difference is, back in the first trimester I could actually sleep...forever if need be. Now, no matter how any pillows I stack and Pepcids I pop, I'm still up constantly. Seems like both the uterus and the internal clock are preparing for baby time.

The work saga has come to some sort of resolution, albeit a crappy one. Basically, my co-worked was ushered into the fill-in 6 month full-time benefited position that should have been posted in the summer and didn't until last month. Can you guess why I wasn't chosen? Seems to be a case of big belly...and the fact that I'd prefer to be elsewhere for 3 of those months at this point. It surely isn't a lack of qualification, since I have degrees, teaching experience, and coordinator experience far beyond any other candidate. Now, if the position had started in September, as it should have, I'd be all rich and healthcare settled and good to go by now. Part of it still screams "equal opportunity ???," "Most qualified applicant ???", but instead of fighting, I am going to suck it up and take it as a sign that it isn't the best place or position for me. It did help to fill a good gap. Now I get to focus on pulling in what income I can for the next month(s) and then figure out whether I want to go back part-time, or seek out something even better, once the family priorities have been sorted out.

But, still, I do like what I'm working on right now. This time of year is when the seasonal programs get fun. We're starting our real field science-y classes, starting with investigating all the critters that live on the rocks and docks of the Bay...my favorite little guys are illustrated above. Try putting your belly to a dock one day and check out who is hanging out underneath. The coolest thing is that they're probably all animals, though they resemble plants. The sadder thing is that the animals in Boston are probably the same as those in San Fran, or Tokyo, or Sydney, since they're mostly all aquatic invasives due to shipping issues. The other critters just can't keep up. But they're all beautiful...