48

Today I turn 48.

47 was a challenging year. On the plus side, I achieved some big goals. I started my first big academic leadership role, STEM Director, and while I’ve scrambled to fit my responsibilities into a schedule with too few course releases, I’ve really enjoyed the challenge and the ability to think and act within a wider and broader scope. I revamped one of our core courses and taught it 3 times this year, and it’s been such a joy to teach it (yes, even online this term!). I taught my first taekwondo classes, as I work towards earning my instructor certification. I wrote a memoir as part of NaNoWriMo. I ran 2 trail races. And, last but not least: I earned my black belt in taekwondo!

The last two goals I’m especially proud of, not just because they’re the result of hard work and perseverance, but also because they show that you can do new, hard, athletic things no matter your age.

47 also saw a global pandemic that upended pretty much every aspect of our lives, and continues to do so. It brought a tough (although not altogether unexpected) diagnosis for one of my kiddos, one which we struggle with every day and which truly requires a village to handle. (The absence of that village, even with some of them being on hand remotely, has made daily functioning in this pandemic very difficult for the kiddo, and for us.) Then there was the sprained ankle that derailed my half-marathon training the same week I started. And work, particularly the first half of the academic year, proved grueling and demoralizing for various reasons I can’t get into here.

48 starts off with a ton of anxiety, uncertainty, and angst. So much remains up in the air, about what summer and fall will look like (particularly a summer without child care, which I’ll talk about in a future post), and about how this pandemic will play out. How can anyone plan in this type of environment, when plans may very well prove to be fiction?

But 48 brings a lot of hope, too. I’ll test for my second degree black belt next winter. I plan on running a half marathon, virtual or otherwise, this fall. I’m advising 2 exciting Comps projects, both of which will catapult me clear out of my comfort zone. Our entire Science Complex will be open and fully online in the fall, and I’m so excited to lead the sciences in our new space (and with ALL of the course releases I’m supposed to have!). And I have a few projects in the works that I’m eager to move forward in the coming year.

I’m also looking ahead to the big 5-0, planning a big, epic adventure. Hopefully the state of the world will allow for big, epic adventures at that point….

To be honest, Pandemic Birthday will not be all that different from Normal Birthday. Normal Birthday typically entails lots of solo time for this introvert to rejuvenate from Too Many People During the Week/Too Many End of Term Shenanigans. Pandemic Birthday? Also lots of solo time, although more out of necessity than out of a need to escape people. I’ll head out for what counts for a long run these days (5 miles). Rumor has it that the family is planning some kind of breakfast and some kind of coffee treat for me post-run. I’ll alternate between doing my own thing and hanging out with the family, spending as much time as possible outside. We’ll order in to support a local business, instead of eating out. And hopefully there will be chocolate cake with plenty of frosting to end the day.

Here’s to a new year of adventures…hopefully more of the good kind than of the bad kind!

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