Onto the City of Brotherly Love...

So here I am sat with 12 other people on board a flight to Philadelphia from Montreal, which means yes, I have a shiny new passport and a visa. One short hop from Philadelphia and I’ll be in home with the girls for the July 4^th celebrations.

The sheer relief I felt when I was able to collect my visa earlier this afternoon from the Embassy in Ottawa, is hard to describe, as much as I have thoroughly enjoyed the hospitality of Russell & Kelly, it feels so good to be going home. 

Its been a roller coaster of  a week,  each day bringing its highs and lows, ultimately in 8 days I have achieved the task in hand, at the same time also completing the necessary paperwork to ensure we will be able to complete on the purchase of the new house. We will take possession on the 24^th July, starting another chapter in this period of this adventure....

and so the Odyssey begins...

its now 9.15pm EST on Monday the 24th June and as sit here in the BA Lounge watching Game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals, waiting for my flight to the UK I don't know when i'll be back in Providence with Laura and Aila.  It has to be said that leaving your family behind is never easy, over the past 6 years I have become used to Laura crying when I leave and whist it pulls at the heart strings, its nothing compared to when your 5 year old starts to cry and then says "i'm going to miss you daddy" well suffice to say a large lump appears in your throat...

so why am I here, well back in November my passport and visa were stolen when the house was burgled, it was due to expire in February so I wasn't that worried, oh how little I knew. Despite my best efforts as to this date I don't have a new passport, which I now need more than ever as we are trying to complete the purchase of a new house. And  of course for a family that likes to travel and for someone who travels for work a passport  is really an essentiality! 

with the help of some colleagues in the London office, I have managed to obtain an appointment at the uk passport office in London on Wednesday. Then the fun really begins, there is a 95% probability that I will receive the new passport on Wednesday, a 5% chance that it will take 6 days... in this instance it really needs to be 24 hours.

as I cannot apply with the US Embassy for an appointment for a replacement visa application until I have the passport in my hands. This would not have been an issue in normal circumstances, only it now occurs that there is presently a three week!! waiting time for appointments at the Embassy in London. When I discovered that fact on last Friday, it did take some time to pick my chin up off the floor. A quick phone call to the attorney though led to the development of the next twist in this tale, the Embassy in Ottawa has only a two day wait. 

now July 1st sounds like a normal day and it is in most countries in the world, apart from Canada where it is Independence Day! which yes, means that the US Embassy will be closed, oh and just for good luck they are closed on Wednesday's as well. Are you still keeping up?

so now the plan is Wednesday UK Passport Appt, Thursday receive passport, Thursday book appointment at Embassy and hope like hell that I can get an appointment on the Tuesday or even better a cancelled appointment this Friday. It would appear that next Tuesday is the earliest I can fly home, if not then hopefully the Weds/Thursday of next week, until then, well I guess were stuck with each other. 

for those of you who read this and are wondering why I have not yet confirmed plans to catch up with you, hopefully you now understand.


now back to that 5 year old, for some unknown reason (though I would be looking directly at Laura if she were here in front of me), we decided that she would go with her mum for a manicure and pedicure this weekend. it became one of those decisions that as we counted down the hours on Sunday morning I was beginning to regret. 3 hours of is it time yet, why is the shop closed til lunchtime, how do you know etc, etc.  

Suffice to say she was slightly excited at the thought and it has to be said thoroughly enjoyed herself, being very pleased with the final  outcome (see photo at the bottom of this post) 

hopefully i'l be in such a good mood on Wednesday morning. Until then. 

Paul 

Its been a while

So here we are again, this time no false promises about future posts, it will only increase my guilt. Having logged in last night and catching up on previous posts I realised how little things that I had forgotten about triggered other memories, i'm doing it again aren't I...

...anyhow as I enter hour 5 of today's 6 1/2 hour journey it struck me how sometimes we need to sit back and realise just how lucky we are. I forget where I read an article or tweet highlighting the point, no doubt comparing it to a victim of some tragic event, I guess it triggered a spark in my mind. 

It would be easy to complain about the amount of traveling I undertake with this job, the  early starts, the late nights the nights away from home, etc, etc.. Then I sit back and realise all that we have and not for one minute would I swap any of it, ok I lie a few less hours would be nice. I guess I now have a better understanding of my makeup (is that finally I hear my parents say!) in truth I probably spent my late teens and early twenty's squandering my talents, that or it just took longer for the light switch to click... nevertheless here I am now am and i'm incredibly happy with my lot. Also please don't misconstrue my words here, I had an awful lot of fun in the teens and twenties, almost as much fun as I have had in the past 15 years, just that now I feel that i'm heading in the right direction, unsure as to where the path is going to lead me (us) and still having fun, just with a better sense of purpose.

Throughout the time I lived in London I never felt it was home, for some reason whenever I drive into Providence, either from the north or south there is something extremely comfortable and homely about the sight of the city and its buildings. Its a funny old world as some would say, I lived in one of the busiest cities in the world with all the history, art, night life, convenience opportunity and more that a place can offer and a sleepy little city in southern New England inspires a feeling that I don't recall ever having. I guess making the move two and a half years ago was a good decision. 

So what have we been upto over the past year, there literally is too much mention, Aila turned 5, its taken almost 6 months to try and buy a house, a colleague had to leave the office early as the chickens has escaped (more on that later), a battle with the drug company, a trip to the Augusta National, a holiday on the cape staying only 20ft from the shore line, the house flooded repeatedly, turning 40....

most importantly we have made some wonderful friends and everyday I get to watch Aila grow and develop as a beautiful young child...life's pretty good. 

Paul 

a post from 30,000 feet

In typical fashion you wait 3 months for an update...


and now for one from 30,000 feet as I fly home from Utah. I realise not everyone is a fan of technology and I share the view, that we never seem to get the chance to disconnect. However in-flight wifi is a really wonderful advancement, particularly when flying on a work trip and often dreading the 200+ emails that will hit your respective device when you land and are able to get service...


Utah itself is a beautiful state, from the Valley of Salt Lake City where you can see the mountain ranges flanking you on either side, to the mountain ranges of Snowbird and Alta, which are quite simply stunning.


It is a long way here from the East Coast (of the good ol' USA) but its well worth it. Suffice to say I fully intend to return with the girls.


I'll update the Flickr feed when I get home, somethings still cannot be done inflight, now back to the day job.


Safe travels
Muswell 

We have moved.....

So as most will probably know we have moved, after a year, Wow time really does fly fast! we moved out of the apartment and into a house. 


When we first decided to rent the apartment, the location was key. In so far as it was only 5 minutes walk to the office, allowing me too spend more time with the family. In addition the aim was to gain a better understanding of Providence and Rhode Island in general. We discovered we preferred the 'East Side" not to be confused with East Providence, so luckily enough we have managed to find a house on the East Side! confused you will be!


Apart from the ridiculous number of rooms and space in general, its about three times bigger than the apartment and has a very big garden, probably even bigger than in the house in South Croydon. 


Once the temperature rises, minus 13 last night I intend to begin cycling to work, were now about 2 miles from the office, which is just that little bit too far to walk. As an aside I do miss walking past the ice rink and zamboni twice a day. 


Photo of the rear of the house and garden below.

Muswell

Turning into my father.....

As the title would suggest, this could be of great concern! Actually its ok I still have my hair, in addition to my wife's great relief, I don't actually class Norfolk as one of the worlds seven wonders!!!


In all seriousness, I have updated the flickr site, for those who have spoken to me recently you will be aware, work is overtaking my little world again. As Laura has commented there seem to be an ever increasing number of wildlife photos! I can only begin to explain that the feathered friends seem to sit still longer than my daughter!


Hopefully another blog post and some more photos to follow soon.


Muswell

A few technical issues

So this is attempt two to get the Flickr stream working, if you checked earlier this week on the basis that I asked you to, you may not have seen the link in the blog header to the photo stream. 


Apologies, sometimes I am a muppet!


Muswell