On my own at the UCEN

With the Mom
Originally uploaded by jegoffin.

Well, nostalgia strikes again. I am currently sitting in the UCen or University Center at UCSB using on of the crusty old terminals. I am waiting until 6:15 when the students in the Children's Lit class finish their midterm and I can gather them up and tote them home to grade with haste. (I will be doing the same thing with their papers at the end of July when I go to Boston for the Institute). Being on campus now though feels so different. I think it is because I am now a career employee, in other words I belong here. Some how I always seemed to know that I would end up working for a University. I guess I thought it would be as a professor rather than as a administrative assistant. C'est la vie. It suits me fine right now. Especially the benefits. Here is the problems with the benefits, though the problem is not specific to UC benefits. I want to have my next baby (NOT in the oven, by the way) as close to possible as I did in Cambridge. The short version: NOT a prayer. The hospitals (2) do not perform VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Ceserean) which doesn't directly affects me, but lets me know the general tone of the doctors and hospitals here: Consevrative. There was apparently one or two doctors that worked with midwives up until a short time ago when something happened during a home birth. Apparently the midwife involved was run out of town and the rest are a bit gun shy. I know that there isn't a Birth Center like in Cambridge, but I would ideally like as little to do with a doctor as possible. Still, I don't want to have the baby at home either. Basically what I am saying is that it suck that there are so little options for birthing in a supposedly liberal state like California. And, since my labor was so short last time round (and sencond babies typically arrive in half the time) travelling doesn't really seem to be a viable option. What to do? Oh, and any doctors that still use a midwife don't seem to take any insurance plans.

In other news, my job is going very well. I like my co-worker, I'm learning the ropes quickly, and I enjoy being away from home on a regular basis. I can't wait to get a paycheck, woo-hoo!

The house is still behind schedule, no surprise there. But, everyday that there is no one working makes me very, very crabby.