I am an ostrich

I realize that the purpose of this blog is to chronicle my steps toward a new job/new phase in my career. And I also realize that I haven't told you about any steps I've taken yet. That's because I haven't done anything yet to find something new to do. I am allowing myself a few days to stick my head in the sand and pretend that nothing has happened.

I hope that the two previous posts will convey a little of what I've gone though in the past couple of days. It's draining and not just a little overwhelming - especially when you consider that I'm using this as my "big sign" to make the switch in career path that I've been thinking about for a long time. There are so many things to consider and within 24 hours of being told you don't have a job anymore isn't the time to try and fit everything into a neat little box again.

The day were were told the lab was essentially over was Wednesday. It is now Friday. I told myself that I would allow myself to sit in the lab and be entirely unproductive until the weekend. I also told myself that I would not set foot in the lab over the weekend - instead I will clean my house, read books for fun and, most importantly, spend some time with my husband.

On Monday my pity party is over. I plan first to march into my boss' office and find out what he wants me to work on for 4.5 months. One of my current projects is worth continuing, while the other should be sidelined since I can't move forward on it quickly enough (in my opinion). But I don't want to sit here for months and not do constructive work. Second on my list for Monday is to send out a few applications for adjunct teaching positions and send a few e-mails to people who might be able to find some teaching/work opportunities and at the very least put me on the right path.

I'm not quite ready to motivate and I think that's fine. I know that for me, giving into the desire to play an ostrich for a few days is critical for my drive to move on and find that next position that's out there waiting for me.