When I said the other day that I was overwhelmed, I meant it, so I am basically taking a day off from blogging. First off, I’ve been kind of sick all weekend. Second, there is so much whirling around in my head that I have no idea what to write. Today, I will mostly spend packing and making a few phone calls in an attempt to find a place to live. I also have a bit of paperwork to fill out as a new hire. It’s quite likely that if I can find the right place this week and can work things out, I will be starting my new job a week from today; otherwise, my start date will be pushed back two more weeks.

  
Searching for an apartment 1350 miles away is not easy. I just want a decent apartment, but apparently in Vermont, apartment complexes are few and far between, at least in the part of Vermont where I will be living. Luckily, my new place of employment has some resources to help with locating a place to live. Internet searches seem to just scratch the surface of what’s out there. I’ll call tomorrow and get into the university’s system and then I can use their resources. I may have to fly up next week and do some searching. The other option is to pack the car, drive up, crash at the house of my new boss or my coworkers (they all offered me a place to crash), and then find a place.  

By the way, if I haven’t said this before, I will be working with an amazing group of people. Each has told me how excited they are that I will be joining them as part of their team, and each has offered assistance in any way possible. While I have only met them in person for two days, I feel like I already know them. They welcomed me from the very beginning. Apparently, when the committee (which is the whole museum staff of four) voted, the vote was unanimous in my favor.

The logistics of everything will be worked out in the next week. I feel sure of it. I’ll find out tomorrow when my probable start date will be. HR would like for me to start at the beginning of a pay period, so I’m guessing that means I will likely have one of two dates to choose from since the university has pay periods starting every two weeks. As soon as I get home from my doctor’s appointment, I’ll give HR a call.

Have I mentioned that all of this is a little overwhelming? Very exciting, but overwhelming.

Also, I wanted to thank all of you for your prayers. Miss E pulled through the surgery better than the doctors could have hoped. She’s a truly remarkable woman. At 101, she’s got spunk. I saw her yesterday, and she was giving them hell. Not in a mean malicious way, but she wants to do things her way. She’s nice about it, but she lets them know nonetheless. When they attached the blood/oxygen monitor to her finger, she did not like that and removed it four times. She finally gave up trying to take it off when I told her that she had to have it on and that they would just come and put it back on. She didn’t believe her daughter when she said that. The pain medication had her a bit disoriented, but she had amazing moments of clarity. When I left, she asked me when I would be leaving for Vermont.  

She is elderly and fragile, but I’d never call her weak. Of course she isn’t out of the woods yet, but we will keep praying, and I hope all of you will as well. One of these days, God willing, she’s going to break the record for the oldest living woman. Of course, she will never admit it. She hasn’t been truthful about her age for over 80 years. You see, she was a few years older than her husband. In her day, women didn’t marry younger men, so she shaved off a few years. There is no doubt what her age really is, but she’ll tell you she’s 98. At her 101st birthday party, she admitted that she might be 100, but like her driver’s license she claims that is wrong. Her version is that they put the wrong date on her birth certificate. On her 100th birthday she claimed for weeks leading up to it that she was only 95, then she remembered that she’d already had a big celebration for that milestone, so she changed it to 97. So we through a huge 97th birthday party.

I’m so glad that she made it through the surgery and as long as things continue to improve, then she is likely to make it through this. The fight will come from her not wanting to go to rehab for physical therapy. She will insist that she go home and they come to her. She will get her way too, because at 101, you’ve earned the right to have it your way. Besides, she can afford it, she owns one of the largest cattle farms in the county. Her late husband collected land like some people collect stamps. Honestly, you’d never know it. She worked all her life, as did her late husband. I doubt she knows her true monetary worth, but for all who know her, she is priceless.

  
I was so humbled by the outpouring of love and support yesterday. Not only did I get more comments in a single day than I think I have ever had on a post, but on top of that, many of you sent emails. It means a lot, and I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart. It is comforting to know that people really do care. It gives me hope for this world to see so many of you who share in someone else’s happiness.

This will be a short post, because even though I’m still smiling, I woke up yesterday morning to an intense headache. I’m sure it was from all the emotions Tuesday, even though all good, it was still an emotional day. Sometimes when I become overwhelmed by emotions, I get headaches.

It’s still a bit hard to believe, and I think I’m in a bit of shock. I’m eager to get moved, settled, and start my new job.
We all know the power of prayer, and I have a major prayer request for everybody. My 101 year old neighbor fell and broke her hip yesterday. She’s a very special woman. When I was a kid, she worked at a candy kitchen and kept divinity just for when I’d come over. She’s always been very independent and still gets out in her rose garden and sits in a little chair as she cuts the grass at the perfect height with a pair of scissors. When I told her Tuesday that I’d be moving to Vermont, she cried and it broke my heart, but she knows it’s the best thing for me. A broken hip isn’t easy for anyone but it’s especially hard on someone her age. She will have surgery today but because of her advanced age and other medical conditions the doctors cannot put her to sleep for it. Please pray for Miss E, she needs all the strength our prayers can provide.

I received a call yesterday afternoon. The museum director, who’ve I’ve talked to several times over the past few weeks, called and said, “We’d like you to join our team.” I was overjoyed. She wanted me to think it over, but she said that everyone thought I was the perfect person for the job. I have been thinking it over a lot. I’ve prayed about it, and I knew that if this was what was in God’s plan for me then it would happen. I will call later this morning and officially accept the job and begin the process of finding a place to live.

Vermont, here I come. I’ve read what a lot of people say about how rural Vermont is, how unfriendly the people are, and how cold the winters will be. I grew up in a rural area and currently live in a rural area. I am more comfortable here than in a huge city, but Vermont is also one of the most liberal states in the country. Also, everyone I met was incredibly friendly. I realize that I will always be a “flatlander” but I’m ok with that. No one who ever moves to Alabama would ever be a true Alabamian. It’s part of the culture of the United States. As for the winters, I realize that they will be brutal, but I also know one thing, I have always loved cold weather. I hate the heat and humidity of the South. If there were three things I could change about the South, they’d be: the heat, the politics, and the racism. All are so ugly and hateful and cause people to be crazy.

So I am beyond excited to be moving. This is a dream job. It is doing something I love and am very good at, but it is also something that I never thought I’d have the chance to do. I may be teaching some, but I also may not be. We haven’t really discussed that. While I’ll be working at a university, I’ll be working in the university’s museum, not in the classroom. I’m good with that. The last five years teaching high school has traumatized me as far as classrooms go, though college students are always better to teach. The point is, I will be a historian. I didn’t spend all those years in undergrad and grad school studying history not to be a real historian, now that will actually be in my job title.

I’m going to ask today if they will offer a moving compensation package, but since that has not been mentioned, I don’t think it is likely, which means that it will take most of my savings to move and get settled. However, if anyone who reads this has any leads on a place to rent in central Vermont that is affordable, please let me know. Just send me an email (jec1918@gmail.com). Any help in this regard would be greatly appreciated. I’m told that the university’s HR department is wonderfully helpful with finding places for people to live, but any additional help would be appreciated too.

My happiness cannot be fully expressed in words. When I first saw the announcement for this job, I thought I was the right fit. When I met the staff at the museum, I knew I was the right fit. I just had to convince them of that, and apparently I did. I look forward to moving, I look forward to a new life, and I look forward to living openly (again) as a gay man.

Out of all the joy over the job, and the congratulations from family and friends, there was one thing that happened yesterday that will stay in my memory forever. It something that made me very happy because it was something in all the years of my life, I’d never heard. I’ve had many accomplishments, and quite a few failures. My father never failed to point out those failures. He’s a man who means the words he speaks, but he is not a man who has ever praised his son for a job well done. He would always say that I could have done better. Yet yesterday when I called to tell him that I got the job, his response was, “I’m proud of you.” Not once in my life, when I kept a 4.0 GPA though high school and graduated valedictorian, when I graduated college with honors, when I graduated with my master’s, or any of the other accomplishments of my life has he ever said he was proud of me, but yesterday he did, and words can’t express how that made me feel. My daddy is proud of me. I know that may sound childish to be so happy about that, but I’ve waited nearly thirty-eight years to hear those four words. Yesterday, I heard them.

I hope you all realize that, while I’ve had the nickname of “The Professor” for many years now, I won’t be in the closet anymore, so my blog title, won’t be very accurate. Hmmmm, any suggestions?

  
I’m glad to be home, but only because I hate the flying. I would truly love to live in this area that I visited. The scenery is spectacular. I would say that 90 percent of the men under 50 range from good looking to stunningly handsome. The guys at the university, where the museum is located, are all stunning and very fit. I believe it when they say that this is the healthiest state in the country. Oh yeah, and the landscape is beyond gorgeous: mountains and streams and lakes everywhere. While everyone tells me that the winters are brutal, everyone also said that the beauty of the autumn there makes the winters worth it.

Everyone I met, from people at the university to strangers in the various towns they took me to visit, were extremely nice. Honestly, there were only three main differences I saw between this place and the South: we have six months of summer, they have six months of winter; very few big box stores or fast food places (I never saw a fast food place, but was told there was a McDonald’s somewhere nearby); and the politics are the polar opposite of Alabama. The winters worry me, but unlike some southerners, it doesn’t frighten me away. The other two things, I find to be wonderfully attractive.

While I know they are still interviewing people, each of the people at the museum told me separately how much they like me and enjoyed their time with me and that they would love to see me become an addition to the team. I was told that the subject of my master’s degree really set me apart from the other candidates. No one knows what the director is thinking (she likes to appear neutral through the process), and she will ultimately be the one to decide, but it appears that she likes me as well. I had two long conversations with her and both went very well.

While everything sound and looks good, nobody really knows what will happen in the next week. There may be an exceptional candidate who has skills that shine more than mine do; however, they know that with me they will get a two for one deal. Not only can I perform the major task of the job, but my particular background in history (among other expertise) will be useful in the museum itself.

There is so much to do and so little time left before I leave on Monday. I know I will get it done in time and be prepared, but it doesn’t mean that I’m not a little frantic right now. This is going to be a short post because I wrote this last night, and I wanted to go to sleep and not worry about all the things that I still need to do.

Also, this is a sad day.  Not only is the anniversary of 9/11, but also because a year ago, I lost my precious HRH, my cat Victoria.  I have two wonderful new cats who are just over a year old, but Victoria and I had a special bond.  We’d been together for 16 years, and I still miss her terribly.

I told a friend of mine that my post today would be a “non-post post.” He asked “What’s that?” I said that it was a post about how I really didn’t have anything to talk about and then I just talk about what’s on my mind. Honestly, last night I got into watching Ken Burns’ Civil War on PBS, and didn’t realize that it didn’t go off until 10:30, which is too late to really start a post, especially when I had no idea what to write about.

By the way, I love listening to Shelby Foote talk. He has that southern drawl that one rarely finds outside of Alabama’s Black Belt region or Mississippi’s Delta region. Not only does he have a great southern accent, but he also has that dry wit of a great southern storyteller. Every so often he has a hard time telling a story without cracking up, but he gets out the story and then gives a small smile before looking down to compose himself. So, I got drawn into watching that and just didn’t even think about what I’d post today. Lots of things running through my mind though.

I still can’t believe that I am being flown up for an interview next week. There is a lot to do between now and then, and the closer it gets the more nervous I get. However, I plan to be my charming and intelligent self, and I will win them over, or hopefully cement the idea that I am the job candidate they want. Let’s see, I have to conduct an interview so that they will have a sample, since I can’t get ahold of any of my former interviews. I need to pick up my suits from the cleaners. Get a Xanax prescription for the flight (flying causes me to have anxiety attacks). Pack. Oh, and yeah, I need to review over what I’ve already prepared for interview material and think of all the things that could come up in a conversation in the two days I will be with these people. And of course, pray, pray, pray that I will show dignity and grace and not slip up and make a fool of myself. Sadly, I’m often better at the later than the former.

Once I get the job, the worrying will not be over. Then I will have to find a place to live. Get things packed quickly and ready to move. Then make the long journey north. If I get this job, the rest of this month will be a flurry of activity. I’ll be so busy, I won’t have time to worry about all the things I have to worry about. Make lists, that’s what I will do, make lots of lists. I’m sure there are other things that I haven’t thought of yet. Of course this last part might be jumping the gun a little bit, but if I do get the job, at least I will be slightly prepared to move and get started.

Don’t you think that the hay he is laying on would be awfully itchy to his naked privates?  I’ve always found hay to be very itchy.  Poor guy, he’s probably very uncomfortable.  I hope they had a hidden blanket underneath him.

  
I’ve been trying to decide what to write on today. I could write about that idiot in Kentucky who is refusing to issue marriage licenses, even under a court order, but thinking of her stupidity isn’t worth my time. Plus, nobody seems to be worried about the dozen or so Alabama probate judges who aren’t issuing licenses. I could talk about some of the books I’ve read recently, but quite honestly, I’m not up to it.

Truthfully, there is only one thing on my mind, it’s the results of my job interview last Thursday. I know the interview went well, but did the other candidates do as well? Did they have qualifications that I didn’t? When will I know something? I honestly believe that I am a perfect fit for this job. I hope they do too. I should know something by the end of today. I’d been told they were interviewing two other candidates this week and would make a decision this week. They want to fly someone up next week for an on-site visit. They need someone soon, and from what I gathered, they are not expecting to hire locally. To get someone up next week, they will need to make the arrangements fairly soon, which in my thinking would be not later than today, but I may be wrong. I do not believe they will wait until Friday because they have a big event scheduled for that day. So it should be today or tomorrow.

I am so nervous. I have gotten so many rejection letters, and I really don’t want to hear from these people, “While we were very impressed with your qualifications, we were faced with a difficult decision, and I regret to inform you that we finally selected another candidate who we believe more closely matches what we are looking for in the position.” I am tired of hearing how impressed someone is with my credentials, but that I’m just not what they are looking for. I need, not just want, but need someone to say, “We want you!” One of the things that I enjoyed about my interview Thursday was that they seemed to be trying to convince me that I’d want to move up there and take the job just as much as I was trying to convey how much I thought I’d be the perfect fit.

I just need to be patient. Also, I will continue to pray about the situation.

The only way I can describe yesterday’s interview was that it seemed to be a complete success. I laid on my southern charm, and I think they loved it. This job is so far north, it’s almost in Canada, but one of the interviewers was from Tennessee. This museum has a staff of five people, if hired, I’d make the fifth, and all four people at the museum were part of the interview process. They seemed extremely nice, and if I get this job, they will be a wonderful group to work with.

They seemed very impressed with my credentials and my attitude. The only thing I lacked was experience with the actual software they are using with this project, but they were impressed that I had researched the software and that I had contacted a former professor who does use the software and asked for his advice. They were also impressed that I had started a drama club at my last school and felt that it would be very beneficial since this program is still in its infancy, and I had shown that I could build a program and make it a success. This job has nothing to do with drama, it’s strictly a history job, but I liked that they recognized how other talents and experience could be very beneficial.

The bottom line is this, in my opinion, I do not think that the interview could have gone better. I was told that they have two other candidates to interview next week, and that they hoped to bring one of us up the next week and then have the person on the job two weeks after that. It’s a short timeline, but I let them know that I am ready and willing to be there and get to work.

Please keep me in your prayers. I keep asking God that if this job is His will, then let all go well. Today it did go exceptionally well. And let’s hope that those other two candidates suck, lol.

Thank you all for your support. It means the world to me.

I’m not sure what else I can do to be prepared for this phone interview. I’ve read everything I can, studied possible interview questions, and prayed. I’ve done all I can, now let’s hope it’s enough. I feel confident that this will go well. If by chance I am not what they are looking for, then they do not know what they need. I AM their perfect candidate.