Here's where we are...

I have now been waiting since August to heard from a journal about my article submission. For those of you counting, that's eight months. After two check in emails, I'm wondering if the Internet has disappeared. Do I check again? I would like to walk the thin line between pushy and engaged.
I am waiting on another journal, this one submitted in December. However, this journal only comes out twice a year, so perhaps there's slack there?

I have written two book reviews, one published (albeit online) and one forthcoming. Both in journals I'm really interested in.

I've been denied applying for a seminar because I don't have a PhD and am not currently pursuing one. Which is a bummer, because it was by a major Miltonist, and in NC and I would have been in heaven.
I am drafting my abstract for the Popular Culture conference in September.

I'm chair of the Sci-Fi/Fantasy panel for SAMLA.
I'm biting my nails to hear by Sunday whether Milton Society of America thinks my paper is cool enough to present at MLA.

I love the class I'm teaching at the community college.
I love teaching my online classes.
I love (most of the time, except around deadlines) building online courses.

And yet still like I'm spinning my wheels...

What I Want

I want to teach literature and reading and writing to people that I at least have the possibility of engaging.
I want to hold actual conversations with colleagues about literature, and geeky stuff about literature without someone assuming I have a third head.
I would like to be part of the conversation.
I would like to be encouraged to go to conferences.
I would like to be recognized for presenting at the aforementioned conferences.
I would like to have a schedule where I don't feel as though I'm working 16 hours a day. If this isn't possible, I would like to love the work I'm doing.
I want to feel as a contributing part of a community.