Smooth sailing, bargaining, and some stalemates

As we make our plans for this summer and for our move to England, some pieces are falling into place.  We’ve nailed down a complex plan for the summer that should give us lots of time with family: I think I’m going to be squeezing in a visit to extended family in the South when I visit my parents in June, and Sydney’s parents have arranged for us to rent a place just a few houses down from them for much of the summer.  And we’ve made plans for work: I’ll be giving two papers in June (one in Kentucky, one in Portland, OR); Sydney will probably be returning to Ithaca to defend his dissertation before we leave the continent; and, needless to say, we’ll both be writing like crazy this summer.  And we’ve arranged for a storage container to be dropped at our house at the end of the month, when we’ll fill it with stuff and have it hauled back to Syracuse to sit for three years.

Whew.

But then there are the trickier pieces, for which we’ve resorted to bargaining.

Sydney’s put in a bid for some time away from civilization while K and I are in Iowa, giving him a chance to rejuvenate after a long year of job-market stress and new-baby sleeplessness.  I’m guessing there will be birdwatching and a serious lack of shaving.  I, in turn, have put in a bid for some family expeditions to gorgeous hiking in Nova Scotia, since I am keen on any opportunity to stretch my legs and backpack Katherine.

And then there are the things we haven’t figured out yet.

How do we make sure all of our mail and paperwork get rerouted to England?  How exactly do we want to handle the cat?  Are we going to apply for jobs next year, or enjoy the freedom to skip it and focus on academic work?  Is something happening with the visas?

So we’re waiting and beginning to pack.

Erin