May/June 2014: I get offered my old job back; start date is fall semester (September 2014). Hooray!
June 2014: I look into childcare and get Sterling waitlisted at the daycare on campus.
August 2014: I check up on Sterling's waitlist status, and the director says it doesn't look good and I should check into other options. I commence stressing out about it. After a lot of stress, I find another arrangement for childcare.
Last Thursday (11 Sept): I get an email from my boss saying that enrollment numbers are way down, and I may not have a job (sections to teach) after all.
Sunday (14 Sept): According to my email, I most likely do not have a job.
Monday (15 Sept), morning: Email says I definitely do not have a job. I cancel the childcare arrangements I had made.
Monday (15 Sept), afternoon: I get a call from the daycare saying that they DO have a spot for Sterling. They are so excited to tell me the great news, and I have to tell them thanks, but no thanks, because I no longer have a job.
Tuesday (16 Sept), afternoon: I get a call from a former colleague saying there is a job for me in a different department. I say I'll take it; she's going to call me back with more details. So I DO have a job.
Tuesday (16 Sept), evening: The timings of the classes are in the afternoon when kids are all home from school, which is a deal-breaker for me. I do NOT have a job.
Wednesday (17 Sept), afternoon: Yet another department, yet another possible job. Can we get the schedule worked out...? I MAYBE have a job.
Wednesday (17 Sept), evening: We got the schedule worked out! I have a job! I scramble to reinstate my childcare plans. Thank goodness they didn't get snatched up by someone else.
Thursday (18 Sept), morning: The times/days of my class get changed. I rearrange my childcare plans yet again. BUT I STILL HAVE A JOB.
I start on Monday. I hope the emotional roller coaster has come to a stop. At least I got a chance to find out how I really feel about going back to work. I was surprised by the depth of my disappointment when I found out there weren't any sections for me. Then I expended a lot of effort to make my peace with that, only to have it work out after all (and then fall through, and then work out again).
By the way, in case you are horrified by all this, don't be. It's par for the course when you're adjunct faculty at a university. Our jobs depend on enrollment. In fact, that's how I got my job in 2011 in the first place - enrollment was unexpectedly high, so I got picked up even though I hadn't finished my MA. Now that I am finished, I'm happy to be qualified for so many job possibilities at the university...and especially happy that one of them ultimately worked out!