Texas On My Mind

I've got Texas on my mind. You see, if you follow this blog or keep up with us otherwise, you are aware that we are currently in a state of flux as we transition from Singapore back to the USA. In fact, I have been squatting at my parents house with my children during the past five weeks or so while my husband has been wrapping up his job and selling all of our worldly belongings. If you are good at math, you are mentally calculating how many jobs that leaves us, what, with Regis' official notice in and my non-work-sponsered, extended maternity leave. Yes, that's right, it leaves us zero jobs. I see it in your eyes as I tell you this, the oh-my-gosh-that's-a-terrible-idea look that flashes across your face. I would agree with you. It is less than ideal. Regis tells me his father used to advise him that rope acrobatics and job searching are the same--you don't let go of one until you have another. But for us, we eventually got to the point that we needed to make the leap of faith to return to our home country. Which is scary, I admit. You swing through the air praying that another rope is there all the while trying to ignore the fact that there is a high chance you'll end up on the floor with two broken legs. But we have faith that there are always opportunities in life, even for those who have broken legs. Sometimes you just have to have the courage to go looking for them rather than waiting for them to find you.

And look, we have been doing. We have been looking for jobs, mostly the right jobs and, in times of desperation, any jobs to get us back. So even though you may think I have been sitting on my duff doing nothing (at least, certainly not blogging), this in not the case. Well, not totally the case. I managed to arrange some interviews over my vacation in February. So now on to the good news: I was only here a few weeks before I found out that I was offered (and accepted!) the job I was most interested in. So job tally: +1. Broken legs: none yet.

Which brings me back to Pat Green and Texas on my mind. Specifically I have Houston on my mind. This is because I have accepted a faculty position at the University of St. Thomas in Houston. I will be teaching biochemistry though the department of Chemistry. I am very excited for this opportunity. It is the job that I always thought would suit me perfectly: an educator of science at a Catholic university. This job, in a way, encompasses all my background, as if I had always been working toward this. I look toward this next adventure for us with nervous excitement and optimism.

So the Covey's are Texas-bound. I believe Regis once told me that he never wanted to set foot in Texas (although that opinion was changed after a fun visit with my brother in Houston), so I giggle a little at the idea of Texas being our new home. I tell him, in the words of Lyle Lovett, that's right, your not from Texas but Texas wants you anyway. While I have always considered myself to be more of a North-west girl, I am looking forward to returning to the land of cowboy boots, big bright stars and Shiner Bock. For our Texas friends, we look forward to seeing you soon. For our non-Texas friends, we hope to give you a Texas-sized welcome if you ever make it our way. In the meantime, I am hoping to keep you updated on our adventures here so please don't give up on this blog yet!