Of all the weird ways to start a Friday... thunder and lightening? Not to mention that fact that when I awoke this morning I had a very hard time remembering what day it was. This can probably be easily explained by the fact that I have spent nearly every single Friday morning this year at my parents' house. Except for today. Yes, today I arose for the day chez moi.
For an update on my ant situation (if you care): I am working on it. It is a bit tricky to place bait traps when one has a very curious dog, but she is pretty obedient when I am watching and I have not left her unattended near the apparent ant metropolis. My guess is that there may be a crack in the foundation or an opening in the wall right by the entrance from my living room to the kitchen because they are coming out in droves for the bait. Yuck. What is the next step? Should I go to Lowe's and check out the Raid sprays? I think it may be time to go heavy duty. Don't worry, I've done this before with much more dangerous critters.
Yet another strange occurrence this morning was the fact that my dog did not want her food. She was not behaving unusually in any other way, so I can only assume that the strange weather patterns may have affected her appetite. Either that or she is making a subtle statement that she prefers the food that my mom has over what I have. This is odd because I intentionally bought the same food as my mom serves her dogs, so who knows. She was more than willing to eat the treats that I give her for going willingly into her kennel before I left, so I know that she won't starve, but we'll have to see how she does with her evening meal.
Aside from animal and insect concerns, my main mental preoccupation of late has been over my future career. Professionally, I am a bit of a crossroads. I am more than emotionally and mentally ready to move on to a new venture, but unfortunately I will not be in full possession of the degree that will allow me to really do this until December. Initially, this fact was OK with me. I was willing to wait out the time patiently in my current position and start the new job pursuit when I had the full qualifications in hand.
Unfortunately, I have started to grow impatient. I want a challenge. Knowing that I only have three more courses to complete until I have my Master's Degree has made me extremely eager to move into the field of libraries, archives and other such places. Ultimately, my first preference would be to remain in Minnesota, specifically in the Twin Cities metro, thus allowing me to remain in my house and near my family.
Although I am concentrating my search in this area, I have not totally ruled out other locations. Current economic conditions combined with the relatively high level of competition for the type of job I want in this area make the possibility that I may need to relocate something that I cannot ignore.
So the inevitable consideration is: where should I live?
Up to now, I have really only considered places that are in the northern part of the country. This is mainly based on my (completely rational) dislike for the kind of poisonous insects and other creatures that live in warmer climates. However, the news that Brown Recluse Spiders may soon be extending their habitat into MN has me very concerned. I had not previously considered Canada to be an option, but I am seriously rethinking this.
I guess you could say that I am now open to suggestion. If anyone has any great ideas, please let me know. I am fortunate enough to have friends and connections in other areas of the U.S. such as Portland (OR), Anchorage and Chicago. There are also the "close to home" options in Madison (WI) and even South Dakota. Then again, there are also the overseas options. How cool would it be to work for the British Museum? Not that there is much chance of this happening, but it would be dreamy.
Hopefully I will not have as much trouble remembering where I am and what day it is tomorrow when I awaken. Hopefully Lena will be kind and allow me some extra sleep as well. Tomorrow night I have a grill-out event to attend that is actually a covert matchmaking operation to introduce a couple of lovely young people. Even if this is not a successful endeavor, at least I will get some good food and company out of it.
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