Georgia on my Mind

Throughout the last six months, Chris and I watched the forty universities he applied to get whittled down to the one. While waiting for the results to flow in, we fell into a routine of medieval superstition in order to identify where, in fact, we would land. After every little thing that happened, most notably the shooting star that Chris saw after discovering that USC was hiring, we would say, only half-jokingly, "It's a sign!"

Well, looking back on it, Emory University offered its share of signs.

1) It was Chris' first application, so we took a picture of his email as he was about to click "send" on September 23, 2010.  It's the only application we photographed; it's a sign!

2) After clicking "send" and preparing other applications in the following week, Chris noticed a spelling error in Emory's teaching statement. He'd reworked some sentences and, instead of replacing experimentation with experimenting, accidentally left it as experimentating. How mortifying. That's why, when Emory called with an invitation to interview, we began referring to all the "experimentating" Chris will be expected to do once he's there, or that maybe he can collaborate with other people there who experimentate?

3) This one's good. Some of our bedtime reading during application season was a fantastic translation of Grimms' fairy tales. Every time I opened the front cover, my eyes would be caught by the translator's dedication:

Not only is Joyce Crick telling us to go to Georgia, but she is also hinting for me to name a future daughter or puppy Rose.

4) When Chris was in Atlanta for his first interview at Emory, I got to talk with him on Skype. He clearly adored the character of the chemistry department and was impressed enough with the area to tell me that he could imagine us liking it there. There were lots of trees and birdsongs in winter and even a band for me to join! I already had the (slightly sinking) feeling that Atlanta was going to be in my future.

5) With a name like Holly - or Daisy Charlotte, for that matter - we will fit right in. The movie we watched on the airplane on the way into Atlanta was set in Atlanta and the main character was named Holly; in addition, practically at every restaurant we visited, someone at an adjacent table was apparently named Holly.

The signs were there. Now that it's official - we are moving to Atlanta in August for Chris to work at Emory University as an assistant professor in chemistry - I am gearing up for the move. Not so much the practicalities, but the gusto I need to fuel such a change. Maybe it's resorting to 15-year-old behavior, but I made myself a "Let's Go to Atlanta" music playlist on the free listening website, Grooveshark. It's a sign to myself that I can do this and that it will be fun, even if there's a little blues along the way.