At the first department meeting of the year, we elect what I shall refer to as The Odious Committee, which oversees ALL the important stuff in my department. (Now, to be fair, the year I served on The Odious Committee, which was also my first year in the department, it was not really odious, just a fuckload of work [we ran three searches that year and ended up hiring six people]; however, everyone I know pretty much dreads being put on this committee.) All week, I've operated under the assumption that it was inevitable for me to be elected to TOC once again. All week, I've wondered if I actually wanted to be elected to TOC, even though it would mean a fuckload of work, on top of the ttc insanity (which, let's be fair, is insane even without the IVF-level monitoring). Because here's the thing: being elected to TOC means that your colleagues like you. Someone has to nominate you and then people have to vote for you. So, even if you don't really want to be on TOC, you do want to be nominated and then, perhaps, decline the nomination.
So, today, when it became apparent that only men were being nominated, my chair made a comment, at which time another woman (whom I like) and I were nominated. And in the end I was put on TOC, with a bunch of boys. And that made me feel really good, for about twenty seconds, and then I realized that our first meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, which is cd 11, which means there's a slight chance that I'll need an IUI. (And let's be honest, the fact that it's a slight chance means, in my world, that it's going to happen.) And then what am I going to do (beg Dr. Gorgeous to do an IUI at 5:30 pm?)?
The good thing is that I like everyone who was elected to TOC. I hope I still like them by the end of the year.
I think I need some vodka. Sigh.
Hate that feeling of committee time conflicts... I'll keep my fingers crossed that he timing works out in your favor. Congrats on getting onto the odious committee! i appreciate hearing that mine is not the only dept with serious sexist tendencies...
ReplyDeleteThis year is the first of three that will be in my notebook for (a) promotion to full professor and (b) tenure (that was added later, hence the strange timing). So I've had to really evaluate my commitments and make sure that I'm not overloaded, but that I have everything needed to Look Good.
ReplyDeleteI really hope your timing works out. Maybe being a room with all that testosterone might work in your favor somehow.