The Waiting Game

It's been two months since I blogged about the beginning stage of my husband's academic job search. It's time to blog about phase 2, which is a total killer for some as impatient as yours truly!

The hubs submitted 40+ applications via online and snail mail this fall.  OVER FORTY.  Excellent opportunities in his field came up every week, and he couldn't pass them up! He totally hit this thing hard - and with me cheering him on, we decided together that we might as well go big or go home! Energy through the roof, I'm telling you!

...

And now, we're waiting.

he's received some feedback from schools already, such as requests for more information/documentation. Which is Great! But still...

It's hard.  We wait. We wonder.  We never worry, but we wonder... where will we live this time next year?

Everyone else is wondering, too. Our families and our friends.  My co-workers. His colleagues.  We're all just one big ball of waiting excitement.  It's gotten to the point where this is affecting Christmas a great deal, because I keep wondering - will we know by then? Or will we still be waiting?  Chances are, we'll still be waiting and wondering.

This experience isn't something that anyone can fully understand unless they've lived it.  I would have to say that this is comparable to the NFL draft - I'll be waiting in the wings, willing to move wherever my husband goes, whatever "team" chooses him in the end.  Will he be a first rounder, picked in early December? Will he be a steal for some lucky school in early January? Or will he be picked late in February, after a long, pain-staking wait that will all be worth it in the end because he gets to pursue his dreams?

I don't whine or whimper to anyone.  We're alone. Me, and him.  We have our families' support, and believe me, it's amazing - but do they feel what we feel?  We are ecstatic about all of the job opportunities.  Every school, every town, every city - we're in love with all of them.  We avoid sharing the full extent of our enthusiasm with our families, because how in the world can we explain to them that we would really love to live in the cornfields? Would we be able to convince anyone, seeing as how we've lived in the Appalachian mountains our entire lives? Yeah, probably not.

My biggest fear, the one that "scares me right out of my pants"? Breaking hearts. Trying to explain to my mom why we would rather be Oklahoma Sooners than West Virginia Mountaineers. Or move to Tallahassee Florida for a temporary post-doc rather than settle down in Bowling Green, Kentucky. All of this depends on actual offers and time - both out of our control. But still, I fear a difficult decision. I accept it, though - it's all a part of the game. 

Have we had discussions about the possibility of making a hard decision? Well - yes and no.  Yes, because we've both agreed that this is probably going to end up being very difficult in the end. No, because it's impossible to plan which school he would choose seeing as how we're not far enough along in this game to know what the offers are going to be.

And so, we wait!