This last week was an interesting one. On Wednesday I gave a lecture based on my work to the linguistics program. The lecture was based on my work with two of my participants -- Adam and Daniel. It was very well received and I feel that I did an excellent job. I think what I have in that lecture could be a solid dissertation chapter, a good lecture to use in job talks, and, potentially, a journal article. So that's good.

And then over the weekend I heard about an interesting job, was asked to send in my CV, had an interview on Tuesday, and pulled myself from consideration on Thursday. The job was one that really fit me well, helping to set up a writing center for EFL students in CS and business who would be attending Carnegie Mellon's Doha Qatar campus. cmu.edu/qatar Both the head of English at CMU and I thought the job fit me well given my research and teaching and experience with second language writers and with CS L2 writers. But, they want someone to be there by August to start working. And, given my family situation with my daughter in the hospital -- and likely to be there for another month -- I had to pass up the chance. The dept head said he told me without me in the running he really didn't see the depth of talent among those left in the applicant pool. He was impressed with how well I fit and didn't really see another person interested in a teaching and research career like I am who would fit so well.

Well, as Jens Palsberg told me, other opportunities will emerge. A daughter is more important than any job. And this experience shows me that I really need to focus on writing my dissertation this summer because there are jobs out there for me.