Saturday Confessions

I'm at my local Starbucks. They have remodeled; this is my first time here since the new open layout with big tables and couches. It looks nice, but I don't want to share my space, especially with the two chatty college students at the end of the table. Oh well, so be it. 

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This past week after the festival I've spent wrapping up grades for the semester. Have I rested post-festival? No, not really. But I did get to spend a little time with my parents before they went home to Virginia. It is quiet in the house without them. We miss them. 

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Haven't mentioned this yet but just before the festival, I was hired for a full-time, tenure track position at Salem State University. Great news, indeed. More to come.

After the festival, which, by all accounts was a HUGE success, and getting through the hiring process, I am trying to find my place in the world again. I'm feeling lost today. Trying to move with the drift. The kids are away with their dad until noon tomorrow, Mothers' Day. And as much as we need a break from each other, I miss them, too.

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Also just before the festival, I lost my jump drive, which had my most recent poems and info. Damn. Damn. Damn. 

Last year, my laptop was lost in an airport, the year before I had jump drive issues. Now, I am backed up on a new jump drive, as well as Dropbox and Google Docs. I think the universe was trying to tell me something but in my usual, hard-headed fashion I just wasn't listening. 

Still hope the jump drive shows up. Maybe it needed a vacation from me. 

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Losing the jump drive was not a total disaster (thanks, Elizabeth Bishop). I backed up six months ago, and because just about every document or poem I've written has a hard-copy or email trail, I have been able to piece together almost all of my work. So I'm taking this opportunity--yes, opportunity--to reconnect with my work. What do I have for a third manuscript? What am I doing with the Juno Larcom poems? I'm beginning to revise my drafts, sifting through the 18 or so poems I wrote for National Poetry Month.

As I continue to figure out what I want, it helps to work on the drafts. Brings a sort of order to my life that I've been craving. 

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Blog, I've missed you, too. Promise not to stay away so long.