We’re moving back to Kansas City! No, I’m not done with grad school yet. No, I’m not quitting grad school either.

So how are we pulling this off? As far as my dissertation goes, I’m basically doing a one-person project without any place-dependent data or resources. For me, at this point “working on the dissertation” means hiding myself away somewhere with a computer. In many ways, this will actually be easier in Kansas City: both sets of free babysitters grandparents, along with our extended family & friends, live in Kansas City; plus I’ve heard several success stories from sociologists I’ve talked to in the last few weeks about “getting away” like this for this phase of the diss. Being on campus all the time has many benefits, but can also bring with it a lot of distractions, both positive & negative.

I’m also lucky to have a job amenable to telecommuting. I can do 90% of my job for contexts from anywhere with an internet connection, and I plan to schedule monthly treks up to the Twin Cities for both contexts & diss related work. Amazingly (given the amount of nerve it took me to ask), both my advisor and the contexts bosses are very supportive of this plan & share my optimism that it will work out well. Most of my communication with them now is via email anyway!

The big motivation behind the timing of this—beyond the obvious desire to be near family & friends, especially since Chloe came along—is the realization that I’ve got at least two more years of grad school before I’ll realistically be moving on to an academic job. Given the housing market, it’s highly unlikely moving in a year would be any easier on us and now we’ll have at least two solid years before any further big decisions.

And, by the way, it’s nice to be married to a nurse: Teresa’s already had several job offers!

So the house will officially be on the market in a few days. If you, or someone you know, wants to buy a beautiful house in Mineapolis (Two blocks from the light rail! Remodeled kitchen & bathroom! Nice hardwood floors! New garage!), send them our way!