Hi Lisa,

Wow, it sounds like you have gone through a seriously rough time lately with the cancer, MS, marital problems and job loss. You know those stress charts that give points for each event in your life, like 5 points for a death in family, 4 points for illness, 2 points for a move? -- then you add them up and it tells you what your supposed stress level is. Well you would be off the charts! It seems like you are hanging in there though. I'm so sorry for all this crap. What a horrible feeling to be shunned by everyone in your dept.--it's just down right rude and mean. I know it's a blow to lose a job but maybe these people weren't worth having as colleagues if this is how they behave. Isn't it just shocking that people can be like that?? Have you thought about getting some of your students to write evaluations/letters of you that you could submit with a job file? Just a thought. It sounds like you were a well-liked teacher. If you are feeling down, just keep that in mind.

Regarding my own tenure I think I need to stop the clock--and even then I'm not sure I will have everything in place that I need to. It is causing a lot of anxiety. THe other thing I worry about is that they may expect more of me because they will think "oh, she had an extra year" even though they are not officially supposed to do that.

Anyhow, good luck with everything and keep me posted.

Natalie