Long overdue

It's been quite a long time since I've posted anything here.

I wanted any of you out there who still stop by to know that things are really good.

I've been working at fantastic industry for a while now, and although at first I was deleriously happy to jump off the academic ship, now that I've been here a significant amount of time, I get pangs of longing for what might have been. But then I remember all the more numerous reasons why I chose this path instead, and those pangs turn into simple fond memories of the good parts of my academic experience.

And really, some parts of my job are still very similar to what you'd expect in academia, but some parts are, thankfully, not :)

I think the most important thing is that I'm finally starting to feel "healed" enough from everything we've gone through (and continue to go through) with the Wee One, that my brain is starting to allow the creative thinking that is so vital for doing really great science.

For so long during my postdoc I just felt totally depleted, and I knew that trying to go the tenure track faculty route would have just made things worse. But I didn't want to just give up - I was hoping that the passion for research was still there.

And it is! I just needed time, and an environment that allowed me to still feel like I was contributing, without burning out. Fantastic industry nursed me back to health. That's not to say that I haven't been working hard. I have been working hard, but I haven't had to think up all the projects myself, and having such a great group of colleagues to lean on for creative juices has made such a difference. Now that my own creativity is returning, I can start playing that role again myself!

So things are good! I am really happy here - and starting to get really excited about being a scientist again :)