Two For Two

Breaking news... the Head of the SECOND school that CS+A referred me to just called. So at the very least we can infer that my cover letter-writing skills are good. :-) The school is in Burlington, further than I would probably want to drive each day, but because it's tiny the Head is used to having to be creative about how to manage his resources. He called me to talk about the possibility of "farming out" some of his college counselling, as the current arrangement, with one of the parents who is also a guidance counsellor in the local high school doing some moonlighting at his school, just isn't working as well as he'd hoped. No firm plans yet, but he may run a few possibilities past his parents + trustees in the coming months and we promised to keep each other posted. I am pleased with how confident I feel, and I think the part-time work at TCNJ is helping with that. Even before my first paycheck, taking on that job is looking like a great decision.

Trading Spaces?

Just back from a trip to Newtown today for an informational interview with PA, who worked at Penn after I did and is now at George School in Development. She is due to give birth to her first child in a month or so, and after that will be leaving George, as her husband has recently taken a position with a start-up in MD. We had a great meeting at George today, had fun talking about all the things we have in common (her sister is gay and has a long-term partner and two kids), and finished up with her introducing me to the head of George's Development Office, who seems like good people and who shares my grandmother's maiden name. At one point PA introduced me to someone by saying, "I'm trying to recruit my replacement." A nice feeling. PA's friend in the office, Alice, has a son who works at Small World Coffee in Princeton who Mr. D has noticed on several occasions because he wears a kerchief over his hair ("Why dat boy have dat on his head?")... I refrained from bursting into an a capella rendition of "It's A Small World After All." But it is. Maybe PA will become a stay-at-home mom as I turn into a development person...

That Was Fast!

Got a call from the Head of the school in Pottersville today saying that she "loved" my cover letter and wants to talk to me about the position. I missed the call (was working on tonight's big Alumni Chapter Kick-Off event at TCNJ, which went pretty well if I do say so myself), but got the message and left one on her voicemail. Let the games begin!

Get Out the Map

Carney Sandoe + Associates (CS+A) has referred me for two positions in private secondary schools, one in Pottersville, and one in Burlington. I'll save you the trouble of getting out a map: they're both a schlep. But theoretically "doable," if not geographically ideal, so a cover letter & suppporting documents went out to each of them today. The jobs are different, one in admission, one in counseling, so I'm hoping I get to talk with both schools as a part of my ongoing exploration. Meanwhile, I also finally talked to LT, my contact at CS+A, something that RW recommended, causing me to think "Well, yes, of course!" RW also asked how I had "gotten" LT, to which I replied that I have no idea how the folks at CS+A match clients with "matchmakers," maybe it's just geography, maybe it's random, who knows. Still, LT has been doing this about as long as I've been doing admissions, so I feel like I'm in good hands. And PA at George School is a previous client of his, so that's ANOTHER thing we can talk about in our meeting on Friday.

Busy busy busy!

Yesterday was my first day of part-time consulting at TCNJ, and it felt just great. It took me a little while to get settled in -- email account, phone access code, new ID card (with old picture, yay!), etc. etc. -- but once I did I was really motoring along. Left at 4pm because that's about as much kid-free time as I could stand, and of course he was totally fine when I popped into Laura's around 4:30pm.

I found that working in an office environment required much less stamina than full-time care of a toddler, but at the same time I was glad last night that I didn't have to gear up for another all-family exodus in the morning. Seems like this part-time thing might really help us all make the transition next fall.

Meanwhile, with my "I am working for money again" energy boost, I got a lot done this morning and afternoon. Sent out transcript requests to Brown and Penn, finished up a personal statement and submitted that along with my resume and cover letter to PDS, checked in w/ GB to thank her for keeping me in the Newtown Friends loop, sent a thank-you note to CD, and sent an email to Carney Sandoe to let them know that their "upload your stuff" feature isn't working for me. Still have more to do, but I'm definitely making progress.

A Positive Outlook

After having had several conversations with well-meaning friends that fell into the "Yeah, you had better get cracking!" category, today's meeting at the Pennington School with CD was a great relief. He came to the area late in the cycle last year, and although he had some help from the powers that be at Princeton, ended up getting the job he has through good old-fashioned work and luck. CD gave me the sense that the folks in the local independent schools communicate with each other regularly, and encouraged me to send him a copy of my resume because, "I talk to a lot of people, sitting here at my desk." Left feeling quite buoyed.

Talk Therapy

Went down to visit with BG today at Newtown Friends, a terrific and well-established preK-8 Quaker school which is just down the road from (and something of a feeder for) George School. They're not anticipating any administrative openings, but she gave me a great tour of the school and the name of someone I could connect with at George. During the tour, I got a chance to talk with a teacher whose immediate response to my situation was, "You should find some work you can do at home." I respectfully disagreed, talking about the excitement of being part of a team and a community, and it was good to have a chance to articulate that, to myself as much as to her. The more I talk to people, the clearer I become.

It's A Go

Worked out the details of my consulting work with TCNJ today, after having decided over the weekend that I wanted to go ahead and run with it. Grammy made a good point, saying that if nothing else, it would be helpful to have a trial run at a new, "everybody out of the house in the morning," routine. I'm mostly excited, and not too nervous.

Zero to Thirty?

I've been explaining to friends that part of our motivation to have Mr. D in care a few mornings a week this year was to reduce the "zero to sixty" effect of his otherwise having to go from no care to full-time care. Spoke this morning with the folks in the Business School at TCNJ about the possibility of my working there a few days a week for the next few months, and if it works out, it may help to serve the same kind of function in my life. Get used to the rhythm of work on a part-time basis so that I'm in better shape to ease in, come fall. The conversation this morning went well, I think, and it seems like it could be a win-win situation; they are very excited about the prospect of bringing someone in who they've heard good things about and wouldn't have to learn everything from scratch. BD didn't want to approach TP about the dollars and cents until he had a better of idea of my level of interest, so now I wait until they confer and get back to me with something that looks like an offer.