I'm expirimenting with my blog by changing its name. I want to see what repurcussions that has, and if they are too much of a hassle, I'll change the name back. But now three people think I'm a wombat freak so it seems like a change may be in order.
I am unusually giddy today because my boss is letting me go to Stanford in June for a project management program and I officially got accepted. I'm sure they accept anyone whose company is willing to pony up their fees, but in my pretend world, I just got accepted to Stanford (or maybe playing pretend officially stops at age 10, after which it's called delusional). They have an application with essay questions, one of which was 200 words on what you hope to get out of the program. Puh-leese. I just want to go to a super snobby school on someone else's dime. It's only a 3-day corporate-type class and then I can do the rest of the program online. I just wanted to indulge in the whole on-campus experience, if only for a few days.
On a somewhat related topic, I've been super restless lately. Working at home is starting to make me wiggy. Since GS isn't working (he's taking 6 months off now to study for a big certification exam...and climb mountains), and since I can work from anywhere in the world (as long as it has a fast internet connection), we tossed around the idea of moving to New Zealand. The conversation was really just for fun, I can't imagine actually doing it. But then again, I had a hard time imagining actually moving to Florida or to Denver, and I did those. Also, yesterday I looked at jobs on my company's internal job board and considered applying for a 1-year tour of duty in NYC, or a job in San Jose that would be a promotion, or a temporary, international assignment in Germany or South Africa. Without GS's career being in the way right now, really we could do anything, if only on a temporary basis. And he's all for doing anything, which is super cool of him.
The thing is, though, I really like being at home with GS and my dogs. Working from home is great because the lack of a commute allows me the time to exercise and read and have a normal dinner and sleep 8 hours. And then there's the baby thing -- why spend time outside of a city where the "best doc" is?! And practical matters. Like how the hell would I do IVF if a 2-hour NYC commute was part of my daily routine?! How could we afford to buy even teeny house in San Jose, even with a good raise? And how would we get by in Germany when neither of us speaks German?
This restless phase will likely pass. I know I'm lucky to have a job that I love and great coworkers and the freedom to work from home. Sometimes though I get the urge for a more adventurous life. It's such a selfish conflict. But I think of all the women with children who don't necessarily have these options available. I think of all the women who have lived before me who didn't have the opportunities we have today. It makes me want to embrace all of the possibilities that this world and this time in history allows.
Now I'm going to curl up in bed with my dogs (GS is sleeping outside in his new tent/sleeping bag setup to test it out in the cold, crazy guy). Tommorrow I'll participate in my morning conference calls in my jammies. Maybe I'll just dream of New Zealand instead of actually moving there. =)
