Terrible and good

I spent a heartbreaking morning sharing hugs with friends at a funeral.  This was awful, in a way that made me so grateful for my friends, and grateful that my friends also have such good friends in each other.  Does that make sense?  But, as much as it made me feel very close to this group I've been with all these years, seeing my coworker's family grieving together made me really want to be closer to my family for some non-mourning activities.  It was a very sad funeral because this guy was such a spark of life for so many people. Sigh.  For some reason I didn't think this would be such a tough day for me, but seeing some of my other students from bioethics in such a state of grief really ripped me up.  I do feel better after the service, though.

And of course, the rest of my life in in a giant shake up right now, as always.  Dr. Rockstar offered me a 6-month post-doc position in his lab (too late, I'm not tempted, but it did make me feel nice).  In other awesome news, I got a major title promotion at the Science Center.  I am to be the first ever Scientist in Residence at the Science Center, which they are hoping to make a more accessible position to bring in collaborative interactions with the local professional community.  This is great for me, clearly, but I think it will be a really good move for the science center.  One of the things that sold the Director on the title was the fact that I have provided them with access to my professional network.  Need volunteers, or info, or to borrow some equipment?  Everyone I know here is a scientist, so that hasn't been a problem for me to find these things.  We'll be hashing out a description for this title this week in order to provide a framework for recruiting other Resident Scientists for relevant volunteer work and interactions.  Hooray, I am valuable!