An Accounting of Things.

One of the things we do in AA is take regular inventory. Well, it’s time to take inventory for the new year with a quick accounting of the last one. Living in the past is not useful, but taking inventory and assessing where we stand in order to move forward through the present-tense permanence of our lives is productive. And 2012 was a transformative year for me.

On this day a year ago, I resolved to walk or run 732 miles over the year. Averaging 2 miles a day. A modest goal, but one which I felt would maintain my physical condition (I did just under 600 the previous year). I’ve lost about 40-45 lbs from my peak, but non over the last year. I still eat too much. But I’m hovering at about 187 lbs, and I’m reasonably fit. At 5’10”, I could easily lose another 20 lbs and not be underweight, but I’m essentially pleased with where I am. And I made my goal. I was way ahead of pace most of the year, but then really slacked off in October and November. I ended with 736. I also started working out with a trainer, which I really like but is very expensive. I am, at the beginning of 2013, in the best shape of my adult life.

My work was interesting. I published a paper early in the year (it came out in March), and that was the only paper I got out this year. But I finished my grant, and wrote two papers which are now under review. One at a really good journal. We’ll see what happens. If they want major new experiments, I won’t be able to respond to review, because I won’t have access to the software I need to do them. But hopefully they’ll have minor statistical concerns, etc. Then I’ll be able to handle them. It would be very, very nice to have a few publications from my grant. Really, it would. I do have a poster accepted to an upcoming conference. And I wrote an R01eq, which will be scored in March. And if it’s funded, I’ll be giving it back.

And of course, when my funding ran out (well, it hasn’t quite yet, but it will), I went on a job hunt. I got interviews for two professorship positions. One of those was non-tenure-track but has been withdrawn and is being reissued as a tenure-track position. I have been asked to reapply. The other I haven’t heard back after my phone interview. I think I screwed up the teaching aspect of that interview, by expressing a strong preference for classrooms over online learning. But we’ll see. You never know. I’m hopeful that I’ll be asked to have an on-campus interview.

But I’m only hopeful to be asked. I’d turn such an interview down, of course. Because, as everyone knows, I’ve accepted a position as a healthcare engineer at Prestigious East Coast Medical Center, in East Coast City. I’m planning a move, and looking forward to discovering a vibrant new city. I’m thrilled to be looking forward to a new challenge, but I’m terrified and excited and confused and overwhelmed. I’ve lived in St. Louis for 20 years. Seattle for 18 years before that. Now I’m going to a new place. I’m hesitant but undaunted.

I traveled to New Zealand and Italy and Vatican City. My distance walking and running does not include many miles walked and hiked in those places. I probably put in 30 or 40 more miles that are not counted in the 736 mile total. I have an appointment this month to have the names of those countries added to my passport-tattoo on my arm. I have now traveled to 40 countries in my life. The three I added this year were more than lovely.

All in all, a very good year. I did a guest blog stint at Scientopia. I took a class in epidemiology at the University of Michigan. I learned so much. And the best part: I did not drink any alcohol, or smoke any cigarettes.