I am a bad teacher.  I cancelled class today even though my car crisis was averted, and I could have very easily gone into work.

Early this morning, I was having more car trouble, so I made arrangements to have my neighbor meet me at the mechanic to give me a ride home after dropping off my car.  By the time I got to the mechanic, my car was behaving normally again, and the check engine light had turned itself off.  The mechanic hooked my car up to the computer, and there weren’t any codes popping up, so I was instructed to come back (again) the next time the check engine light comes on.  I was free at that point to drive into work, but I decided to stick to my original plan of canceling class.  My whole morning was consumed with the car business anyway, so I effectively lost my prep time.  Plus, I just couldn’t bring myself to go to the last class of the term—a 3-hour class during which I fight to maintain the students’ attention, and constantly parade around the room reminding them to get off Facebook.  If they don’t care, why should I?  That’s where I’m at with this teaching thing.  Really, who in the hell would want this job?

On a positive note, only 4 more days of daycare, 4 more days of final exams, and then only a few all-day meetings in May.  I’ve been networking to get my usability business off the ground, and it’s working!  I have a meeting tomorrow about a potential lead with the Institute for Sustainable Communities.  And perhaps the greatest surprise was over the weekend—I contacted a high-profile blogger based in NYC who is active in the user experience community and travels the world giving talks about her work.  When I contacted her, I mostly just wanted to share my story, thank her for providing inspiration to me, and ask her about a couple of things that I was wondering about.  I was blown away when she mentioned that she was talking to a company in Burlington, VT and would consider using my services.  Um, woah.  I wrote her back immediately to tell her I can’t wait to learn more about this opportunity.

So in the span of a few months, I have 3 leads on possible jobs, and I haven’t even left my full-time job yet.  And everyone seems excited to work with me.  It’s so different from academia—where you just feel worthless no matter what you do.  I really feel like I’ve made a good decision for myself and my family, and I feel like I can use my skills in really important and exciting ways.

In other news, Holden is up on the waiting list at his new preschool!  They have an opening for the fall, so all we need to do is get him potty trained, and we’ll be set!  I’m hoping that he’ll do it this summer, like he promises he will.  We’ll see.

So much on the horizon—I’ll update more later!