next steps

my boss: "what is your dream job?"
me: "i'm kind of in my dream job right now.  i can't imagine not teaching, but i also love being in the leadership position of being a dean."
my boss: "okay.  but in twenty years do you want to be finding out which junior parks in spot 112?"
me: "woah.  point taken.  and [laughing] 112 is actually a senior parking spot."

i spent an hour in my boss's office talking about whether i should go to graduate school (yes), when (next year would be good), what degree i should work toward (i think we decided a master's in education, though nonprofit leadership and an MBA were also thrown out there.  not by me.), and whether i want to take a couple courses a semester on top of teaching or take a year off from teaching (i think the former, but am open to either idea).  i needed a little mentoring and he was in a mentoring mood, so it worked out perfectly.  his second question (above) was such a good question - it cuts to the heart of the matter - do i want to be doing all the little things i have to do right now as dean for the rest of my career?  my initial reaction was "i love being a dean and i want to do this forever."  he made me realize that no, i don't.  it's perfect for right now but i will be ready for something different at another point in my career.  "you're a big picture person," he said to me.  i'm taking it as quite the compliment.