Son of the Year

We've just finished our move. As I sit here and write this, I'm staring down the canal at our old building and our flat on the 5th floor. The move was only about 400 yards, but without a moving van, car or even a trolley, it required approximately 20 trips. That's about 10 miles of walking. With suitcases, boxes, backpacks etc. filled with our junk. We'll call it the Clarence Dock Death March. Not all of the 10 miles were covered in the rain. But enough to make living in the canal boats between our new and old places seem like a preferable option to moving.

On the plus side, its all done now. We're in a new place. It is larger, newer, nicer, brighter with a nice sized patio overlooking the canal and better furniture. All in all, not a bad place. It is, however, further away from the train station. Just less than a 20 minute walk.

Today, besides being Mother's Day in Canada, is the one year anniversary of our first trip across the Ocean to England. The purpose of our first trip was so that I could interview with Sheffield Hallam University and Beth could meet the professor who has become her thesis adviser and to see if she could accept her position at Sheffield. We left on a Saturday evening, flew all night and arrived on a Sunday morning. No sleep was had on the place. We were in rough shape on landing. The arrivals section of the Manchester Airport didn't help. It was as if our plane landed at a slots casino in 1974.

Having left the Airport behind we made it to the train station and waited in the cold and the wet for our train. To Manchester. The other train station in Manchester. Stupid Manchester. Why does everything have to be so complicated? After having waited there for a few hours - waking Beth's Mom up with a (for her) very early morning phone call - we caught the train to Sheffield. On arrival we noticed the thermometre at the station. It was two degress celsius and raining. Our trip was not entirely successful. It rained the entire time. I didn't get the job I interviewed for. We discovered England was the most expensive place on earth. But Beth did like Sheffield and her adviser.

We eventually came back again and I got the job that time. Ever since, things have been pretty good. Beth has gotten more experience teaching midwifery here than she would have gotten in five years at home. Her PhD is rolling along. When the rioting in Bradford can be kept to the bare minimum, things are going well for me. Work is extremely flexible and not too taxing. We've met some good friends and, with effort, can understand most of what they say.

I have, however, missed my second Mother's Day in a row. Thankfully, we discovered a place that delivers flowers on Sunday and Mum won't be shut out of gifts. Like last time.