Calmer

Well, things are finally calmer around here. I confronted the sys admin yesterday, and she told me the whole situation had been blown out of proportion. I don't know if she was deflecting and/or backtracking, but hey, we addressed the issue. Then we had a good meeting about the changes we are doing. So...for now, peace seems to reign.

You may wonder if my job stresses me out this much and I clearly have issues about it and my coworkers why I stay here. Well, it's complicated. A few years ago I realized that I didn't want to work in IT anymore but didn't believe that I had skills to get a decent-paying job anywhere else (my undergrad is in English and I did no internship because I thought I was going to teach but decided not to). Anyhoo, I decided to go to grad school so I could do something else. I work at a university, and thankfully, my department is very flexible with allowing me to take classes during the day and I can use tuition waivers. Plus, a couple of years ago, I moved to the marketing department, and I usually like the work I do. Finally after almost 3 full years going to grad school part-time, I can see a light at the end of the tunnel, so moving to a different position soon might be possible because I won't need quite as much flexibility with my schedule. However, now $$$ comes in because I can't really take a pay cut right now due to surrogacy and/or adoption and unless I stayed in an IT job, I probably would have to take a pay cut. Sooo...those are some of the variables I am juggling. You might not have been wondering about any of this, but I hate it when people whine and whine about how awful their life/job/spouse/friends are and don't do anything about it. I'm trying to do something about it (grad school), but it's complicated. Hey, maybe I'll win the lottery and all of this will be a moot point!

Today is my aspiration. What an ordeal this has been. My time has been changed THREE times. I had another voicemail yesterday telling me that my new time was 10:45 and to be there at 7:45. When I called them back, they said, "no, it's 1pm; be here at 11." I confirmed with both the hospital AND the clinic, so hopefully the last time truly is the correct one. I still would not be surprised to get there at 11am and have them tell me that I either missed my time or am way too early LOL. All this for a 10-minute procedure! It got to the point that I was afraid to leave my office for fear they would leave another voicemail telling me yet another new time :-)

My mother confirmed that my youngest cousin (she'll be 25 in September) has started fertility testing. She and her husband have been trying for a year. It's supposed to be a secret, but since no one in my mother's family can keep a secret, everyone knows but have been sworn to secrecy. They all know about my issues, and I've urged my mother to tell her sister (my cousin's mother) that I am there for my cousin if she needs it...email, call, whatever. I want her to have a good support system. And to make matters worse for my cousin, her sister-in-law (and my cousin-in-law) is newly pg. My cousin dislikes her sister-in-law and her brother and sister-in-law are not in a very good financial position. Even worse, they live about 20 feet away from my cousin, so she'll have to see her pg sister-in-law often. I really hope that my cousin's issues can be handled easily.

I admit to being slightly amused by the possibility of being able to tell my mother, "gee, I guess infertility DOES run in YOUR family after all" now that my cousin is experiencing problems as well and my mother is fond of blaming my father's side of the family for my problems.

Niobe asked if I had any recommendations based on the books I read on vacation. I did not read anything that could be considered remotely highbrow, but I did read a few I would recommend if you like chick lit:

• The Little Lady Agency series (Browne)


• Names My Sisters Call Me (Crane)