Supergirl Moves to Delaware

"DelaWHERE?!" was the typical refrain when I announced to people that I'd be moving at the end of October. They'd be all interested, and then when I said I was going to Delaware (not Boston, not Oregon, not Seattle, not even Minneapolis), their faces fell, and their voices took on that incredulous (or sympathetic) tone. Matt says it's because of the way *I* said the word "Delaware." I'll admit that my attitute toward the whole thing was terrible. I'd lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for 31 years, and I'd been to Delaware exactly twice: once as a pass-through on a train from Pennsylvania to Maryland, and once when we visited for Matt's postdoc interview. I liked it enough on my actual visit to the state (largely because of my visit to Longwood Gardens) to be willing to move when Matt was officially offered a postdoc. Plus, it was clear that this was the best place for Matt to do his postdoc. His advisor here is one of the preeeminent soil scientists in the country, an incredibly supportive man from whom Matt can learn a great deal. Someone once told me that the most important thing you can get out of a job is an education, and clearly, Matt will gain that here. I also think he's poised to make a good scientific contribution by being here, where he'll be able to pursue all of his interests. I knew how interested he was in coming here, and I'd been teaching for five years and knew I could handle the transition. However, no matter how prepared one is, or how healthy a move can be, the actuality of moving cross-country for the first time in one's entire life is unbelievably daunting.

At first, I figured I'd teach in Delaware. But after we made the commitment to move, and I told my principal, and passed the word to friends, family members, and colleagues, it became clear that Matt's thesis defense would be later than we'd thought. Were I to teach, I'd be moving to Delaware in August--with him to follow in October. I couldn't imagine doing that. So, I had to rethink things. I looked for jobs in the area and was rejected three times, so I decided to take stock of my interests and consider trying something else. I brought some career counseling books home from school, and discovered that I really only have two major work-related interests: writing and teaching. It's nice to have it narrowed down, I suppose.

I decided to pursue writing more aggressively. It's a little hard to teach when you move in October and may move again during the following school year! I had begun to miss my former four-year stint in writing, editing, and marketing for tech companies, and decided to see if I could go back to full-time writing.

I began by transcribing interviews for the Stanford Study of Writing. For $15 an hour, I hunkered down at my laptop with "ExpressScribe" software and typed up interviews between Research Assistants and Stanford undergraduates about their writing experiences at Stanford. A 45-minute interview could take ten hours to transcribe, especially with a fast talker. It was exhausting, but the feeling of accomplishment made it worth it.

Good news followed: My dear friend Heather left her job to start her own graphic design business. StudioPicotee.com was launched, and she immediately gained high-profile clients and hired me as her copywriter. Without even realizing it, I had fallen into my ideal job: freelance copywriting for a smart, successful designer. I have loved every minute of my work for her, and am so excited to continue it!

Having a portable career for myself made the concept of moving a little easier. The feminist in me was struggling with the idea of moving for my husband (as super as he is); now, the move was actually necessary. By living in a place with cheaper rent, and by being married to a person whose benefits can cover me, I can afford to write. My goal is to be full-time and really contribute to our household income eventually, but you have to start somewhere!

Here I am, in Delaware. I'm writing for my Bay Area clients and the neighborhood natural foods co-op, and I like it here! It's beautiful, with trees everywhere (which are currently bursting with gorgeous fall color). People are friendly, and things move a little slower. It's a real town, with a variety of people and fewer of them. We live in a cute house in the center of campus. Undergrads stream by our front door all day on their way to and from class, and we live one block from Main Street, where there are three independent bookstores, three indie record stores, and a plethora of fantastic, vegetarian-friendly restaurants with half-price bottles of great CA wine Sun-Weds, and bands Thurs-Sat. My parents visited last week and helped us whip the house into shape (I've never seen so much recycling), and we also managed to go to the fabulous Longwood Gardens AND the Newark, DE Halloween Parade (complete with a hearse, whose license plate was "6FTUNDER," that shot flames).

My mom, due to an unfortunate tooth abcess, found us a great dentist (my third father-child dentist team!), I found Triple A, Eastern Mtn. Sports, and the Gap, and Matt and I have joined the Delaware Masters team, ten people who swim crazy fast intervals but are very nice. They comprise eight of the fifteen people I know here, which is a motivator for the 5:00 A.M. wakeup call Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings.

The cat is still not sure about this whole deal. She misses her big picture windows and staring at the cats in neighboring condos. However, she was amazing on the flight out here, chillin' in her carrier and letting us pet her, not making a peep. She met some other nice cat people and only caused a minor ruckus when she was forced to be removed from her carrier for security screening and peed on the floor. "She's pissing," cried the security guy on one end as the guy manning the walk-through scanner calmed Matt ("It's OK; you don't need to show me your boarding pass,") while the cat howled. She did find a cozy shelf to nap on when she got here and has learned to drink out of my water glass (ew), but we've bought her some area rugs to appease her, and we notice she's spending a little less time under the bed. There was even some racing up and down stairs today!

When we got here, our house was in disarray. Apparently, the final inspection never happened, and there were transitional people living here for a while, so there were about five broken windows, the same amount of thrashed miniblinds, rusty faucets and showerhead, a crumbling stoop, etc. After my first-night meltdown, we got on the phone with the housing office, and we are now friendly with the carpenters and glass guy. Painters, masons, plumbers, and probably electricians will be next. Kitty is pissed about all these people invading her house, but she'll get used to it.

So that's the news from Delaware. I'll close with my dad's favorite thing to say whenever we talk about Delaware: "What did Dela wear?" "She wore a New Jersey!"

Cheers!