My friend Amity wrote a really nice post on her blog about me (to me?) yesterday, and it really couldn't have come at a better time. Summer is so odd here, not many faculty are around, it's easy to start wondering if what you do is valuable and important. Or, better yet, if you really are any good at what you do. Sometimes, I read all the professional blogs and tweets and stuff and feel a little like "Oh man, I only have a Master's Degree!" but then again…. I have a Master's Degree!! Because I eat, sleep, and breathe this stuff, it can start to feel like maybe I'm not all that valuable — after all, most of the stuff is just out there for people to find themselves. But again, not everyone knows where to look. Amity is really, really tech-savvy (I have used her sites as examples before) so it's especially cool to be able to help HER, when many of my faculty don't hold a candle to her, so, I don't know, it's good to know that I still have something to offer. That probably sounds weird.

There's more and more talk about moving me to full time instructional technology, and I hope that it happens relatively soon. I've been here a year and a half, in a split position, and it's one of the biggest challenges for me. Because we are a service office, most people assume that they are "bugging me" or "taking me away from my work" when they ask me for help, but really, this is my job! That part of it is in a busy office just distracts people. I'd love to have an office away from here, not too far, with a micro-lab set up in or near it, so that faculty can sit down and work with me. (Currently, we are not at 1:1 faculty laptops.) I'd also like a different schedule. I keep harping on it, over and over, but even just an afternoon a week makes such a big difference in my work/life balance. I get that over the summer (today is my last one, though, sigh) and sometimes I get Ingrid, and sometimes I don't. (She naps from 12-2, so I always get a couple hours to myself before getting her, anyway.) I can run errands, get lunch with Dave, meet Andy for coffee (so hard these days, with our opposing schedules) or just do what.ever. I love it. My ideal would be a 4 day schedule, honestly, but even an afternoon a week would be so great. If I were just doing IT, I think I could negotiate that — after all, there are lots of components of my job (that job) that can be done from home. And then, when Ingrid (and any other kids) are school age, I could shift to working a 5 day schedule, but one where I get out when the kiddos do, to be there after school. A raise wouldn't be bad, either, but if it were between cash and time, I'd choose time right now.

I don't know when the shift will happen, or what it will take, but I do hope it comes around. The more I can do IT and not be distracted by my desk job, the better it will be, I think. Even if it means moving to an office without AC.