Michigan said no.

The nice folks at Michigan passed on Michael. The note from the chair of the search committee said that the consensus was not to hire a candidate who is ABD (for those not in the academic world.... ABD is All But Dissertation.... which is Michael's status).

I don't get it. They talked to him 5 times on the phone prior to bringing him to campus. It wasn't a surprise he is ABD. I told Michael I think the scenario went something like this. There were one or two gentlemen as the core of the search. They discounted the rest of the faculty input. Meeting with the senior leadership in the Sports Marketing Department, Marketing Department, Strategy Department and the Dean of the college, is probably what worked against Michael. They are Michigan. They don't hire newbies. They hire people at the PEAK of their career, not at the beginning. They can demand an experienced candidate.

At least he got the experience. He networked with the senior folks. He'll run into them again at conferences and maybe even get research collaboration out of it.

Proud Parents

We are so proud of Jacob. He has done amazingly well on his spelling and reading. A short while ago he got a 77 on his spelling test, missing words like Jacob and Spelling. This week he not only got 100 on the spelling portion, but also got a 94 on his handwriting. This is a BIG deal. He has his daddy's handwriting and it isn't fun. But he has taken his time and worked very hard on practicing his best handwriting (and spelling).

The first grade teachers recently did some mid-year reading assessments. The measurement for the first grade reading level is the abilty to read 60 words per minute with a comprehension of at least 80%. Jacob however blows that away. He is reading at 103 words per minute and has 100% comprehension. Also the reading assignments are given letter grade levels (A-Z). The Texas Primary Reading Inventory says that the first graders should be on level F or G. Jacob is on level L - he's doing great!!!

16 weeks

We are 16 weeks and counting. I go back to see the OB at 18 weeks. Jacob is coming with me so he can hear the heartbeat. I think that will be exciting for him.

Michael is going to the Univ. of Hartford in February. That makes 2 campus visits thus far. Hartford and Michigan are at opposite ends of the interview style. We'll see how this plays out.

Hartford = 0 phone interviews
Michigan = 5 phone interviews
Hartford = 1 request for verification of graduation status
Michigan = 0 verification
Hartford = 1 request for campus visit and 1 description of agenda and presentation
Michigan = 3 times back and forth about agenda, who to meet with and topic/length of presentation.

That's about it from us.

Stressed out.

Why Michael feels stressed??
· His dissertation is way behind in scheduled – which could delay his graduation to August.
· His co-chairmen of his committee not communicating and are not on the same page for expectations. One is out of the country on sabbatical to complicate matters.
· The job search is taking months longer than anticipated.
· The lack of interest from schools well within “reasonable fit” is deflating.
· He is preparing for an interview with the University of Michigan.
· Not to mention the fact that the normal stresses of life, pregnant wife, 6 year old kid and all the normal household needs.

What is the flip side?
· If his graduation is delayed to August, it will give him more time. More time to do data collection, analysis and writing.
· We want to sell the house so that when he gets a job, we are ready to pack and move. We’ve gotten a storage unit and it is filling up fast. We’ll have more time if graduation is in August.
· We have a friend who is interested in buying our house.
· Texas State University has to hire a department chair before hiring the professor position. He is still in consideration for a position there.
· The marketing department doesn’t want him to linger over his dissertation. They would have to fund him for another year. The co-chairs will have to have a meeting of the minds. The department chair will see to that.
· If the job hunt proves fruitless – Texas Tech University has asked him to stay on another year and teach. They have had two faculty members retire and his department chair said one of those positions can be filled by a visiting instructor’s position for a year.
· We have a fall back position that all in all is pretty good.

We've been married 15 years!

Once upon a time when we lived in Chickasha, OK we were driving 35 miles, into OKC for the day. It was our anniversary (January 5th). We ran out of gas. Michael was just trying to make it a memorable. We walked 1/10 a mile (felt like much further) in freezing weather to get gas. He filled up a can, went back to the car and came to get me in the warmth of the convenience store.

I wanted to have a memorable 15th anniversary (yes, can you believe he's put up with me for 15 years.....).

I had a flat tire on my way to take Jacob to the post operative appointment with his Ear/Nose/Throat doctor @ 1:00. Michael was going to meet me at the doctor's office and take Jacob for the afternoon. I had to be back at the office for a 2:00 meeting. I called Michael and told him, he came and gave me his car to continue on to the doctor. I called and canceled my meeting. He changed my tire and met us in the waiting room @ 1:40. It was 2:00 before we went in to see the doctor. He took my car and went to get new tires.

I got a set of tires for my 15th wedding anniversary. I'm taking him to dinner.