So much time has passed since I wrote anything about myself. While I enjoy writing book reviews--and so much of the work done in grad school consists of book reviews--I need to take a moment and reflect on just where I am at this particular moment in time.
I'm still monumentally happy that I no longer work for the Sacramento Superior Court. Watching what that place does to friends still employed there makes me all the more grateful for the "terrible" lay-off that happened to me. I continue to work as a consultant for the
Pacific McGeorge Housing Mediation Center (HMC), happily compiling and analyzing their statistical data. We don't get as many customers as we'd like, but we are still a work in progress.
As a new hobby, I have joined
Capital City Paranormal, a paranormal investigations team. I have Janelle Loberg-Cardoso to thank for offering me a place on the team. Knowing that I am an historian-in-training, Janelle picked me to take on the research component for the properties the group investigates. An excuse to visit the archives and put my research skills to use? Yes, please!! I am also going to take on the role of "debunker" during the actual investigations, giving me a chance to participate in the real ghost-hunting process. The team members are wonderful, hysterically funny, and very passionate about this work. If you are troubled by something hanging around your house, you should really check them out.
Some scars from my lay-off persist. I still feel angry with a few of the major players at the Court, although that diminishes with each passing day. I try to wait patiently for karma to do its thing to those who I feel have wronged me, but patience has never been a strong component of my character. I miss some of my former colleagues (that's you, Trishter!!!), although I am happy that I still see several of them from time to time. I cannot say I miss the work I did there, as my last two years with the Court found me bored, unchallenged, and unsatisfied--with the exception of the Shriver grant program (on which I still participate through my job at the HMC).
Even with the ongoing scars, though, I would say that I am a happy person. The factors in my life that matter most to me--my daughters, my education, my family and friends, and my job--are my sources of strength and happiness. Plans for the future, for a doctoral program and the excitement of more historical research, keep me looking ahead--hopeful, optimistic, and excited.
I am one contented woman....
