Goodness! I am surprised you had a moment to write! I'm sorry that your job was "tailored out" (that's what we say at work), but the work you're doing with the organization for women and children is wonderful, and certainly needed. It seems like it will lead right into the kind of work you really would like to do, as well... So, good for humanity, and good for your career.
My parents are away in London right now (they don't like to mention their trips on Facebook, so you might not have heard about it). They're off on a two-week Baltic cruise in a few days, after they hang out in London for a bit. Every time they go on a trip, I worry, and I realize just how much my parents mean to me. They are my best friends and champions, and I feel like it took me far too long to really appreciate them, quirks and all. Losing one or both would leave me mute, somehow, because I tell them pretty much everything. Though I imagine a significant other would have been a great comfort to you this year, I'm glad you and your mom are talking and hanging out so much.
When my health/cat/job issues all coincided, I lost a lot of my optimism (I discovered, after meeting J's mother, that I'm an optimist), but I still felt that all of that stress had to be balanced by something good happening soon. The job security is good, and has brought back a lot of my optimism...
As far as kids go, I'm all mixed up, which I think is how people usually are. I was in a lot of pain, for a while, because of what my doctor has diagnosed as endometriosis, and when I told J that infertility was often a result of it, he said, "Well, then, we'll adopt, and those kids will be our family, and we'll never look back." Not that we were actually thinking of kids now... We agree with you, and intend to have whatever education we want out of the way before we move on to the "family" stage. Yet, when you're 25 (holy crap, when did that happen??? I typed 23 without realizing it was wrong, for a minute), you just assume that, whenever you want one, you can choose to have a baby. So, a doctor and the internet telling me that might not be true was quite a shock... as was my gut reaction, which was "Well, then, I don't want any at all, and I'd better figure out a fantastically successful career." See, I'd always thought that I wouldn't care if I couldn't have a biological kid... I guess I'm more of a narcissist than I thought.
I'm not sure where I was going with that. It's just what's been on my mind.
In the past few months, I have discovered that I truly love violin. I've been playing quite a lot, and teaching J how to play. I like to feel that I'm good at something, and (when nobody is watching), I'm very good at violin. I wish I could give lessons... but I was too much of a coward to study music in undergrad. Music students had to give solo recitals, you see...
Bart is, according to my father-in-law, settling in well to his new home. It's amazing how much you miss animals when they're gone... Every time I go to water my indoor plants, I miss that silly cat, because he always used to come running, hop up on the plant table, and try to drink the water from my pitcher (even though he had a motorized fountain with a filter). Someone offered me ANOTHER cat the other day, and I explained that I felt it would be a betrayal to Bartholomew to get a different cat when we couldn't even keep our first cat with us... They probably would have preferred a simple "No, thanks."
I'll sign off, for now. I have trouble sitting at computer screens for long, anymore, since all I do is stare at a screen all week. You inspire me to try to make my life useful... must start brainstorming this week.
Love,
Kate
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