2008 felt much like a year of building and regrouping. We were kind of like the Toronto Maple Leafs. We have been building for the future. In 2008 we were trying to get faster, stronger and better able to handle the new challenges that lie ahead. The other way to look at it - 2008 was a transitional year. We were busy settling back in to life in Canada and trying to figure out what our next adventures will be.
Here are some of the events of 2008:
January: Our family grew by the addition of Ruby, the Davis family cat, coming to live with us. She provides us with hours of amusement and lots of cuddles. She is even proving to be quite a big help in writing my PhD. Brent settled into his new role as Legal Counsel at Sun Life Financial and devised various coping strategies to deal with the daily commute to Waterloo.
February: Beth had a wee trip to Fredericton to visit with Kurt, Catherine and our god-daughter Rachel!! It was a snowy and lovely trip. Speaking of snowy we also attended the wedding of our friends David and Patti in Ottawa. We haven’t been that cold (or that drunk) in a long time!!
March: Beth returns to work!!! Brent starts to hate driving on winter roads.
April: Beth has her first journal article published! Brent continues his labours on his LLM thesis. The end is not in sight.
May: Beth and Brent’s sister Julie board a plane for Glasgow. Beth attended the International Confederation of Midwives conference while Julie toured around taking in the sights, sounds and smells of the city. It was amazing to see over 3000 midwives in one spot! Beth did two presentations during the conference: a major PhD rite of passage. Brent stayed home and went to work: a major PhD spouse rite of passage.
June: Our fifth wedding anniversary! Had a fine dinner at our favourite anniversary place – Inn on the Twenty.
July: Enjoyed some serious summer. Brent interviewed for and accepted a new job at McMaster University. Only a 90 second commute!
August: A week of holiday! We toured around some local sights including a few days in Toronto and in Muskoka at Taboo. The next week Brent started his new job. It’s similar to what he did in England at the University of Bradford. It is also a job which utilizes the knowledge and research he has been working on for the LLM.
September: Beth starts as a lecturer at McMaster and she has a book published!
October: Brent gets his LLM! Beth has holidays. Plus on the PhD front, she has three chapters and counting.
November: Brent continues to adjust to the new job – meeting new people and learning new things. Beth continues to battle the PhD. Still on schedule!!
December: Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night! Brent has two weeks off at Christmas!!
So what is on the horizon for 2009?
A few big events are scheduled to take place in 2009. In June it will mark 10 years since we first got together and six years of marriage. Now that’s something to celebrate! Also, pending natural disasters and bouts of temporary insanity, Beth will be finished her PhD before the end of the year. This also means that a trip back to England will need to occur so she can defend her thesis. We are hoping to take a few weeks holidays around this time as well so we can explore a few of our favourite haunts and a few new parts of Old Blighty that we didn’t have a chance to see the first time around.
There are a few unknowns lurking in the 2009 timeline as well. No one is really sure what Beth will do after the momentous day when she finishes her PhD? There is talk of doing a postdoc in Toronto but her options may be broader than that. Who really knows? The point of us doing all this work and travelling was so that our options would expand. It is difficult to say for sure but on the whole it seems they have. Brent has a new job that he really enjoys and Beth...well...we might have to wait until the PhD is over and out before we know what her options are but it seems certain that there will be more options now as a result of doing it and of our time in England.
So, what have learned? Say yes to England. Say yes to new jobs. Say yes to new friends and fun and travel. Welcome 2009 and we hope you are good to us.
