Day 7.090: Empty rooms, full hearts

So this was it, our last day as residents of New York. We said a lot of goodbyes - starting with some of the neighbors before the kids got on the school bus. Most of the day was spent running errands (a car-load to the "transfer station" i.e. town dump), a form to fill in at the Middle School, a box to drop off at the post office; and cleaning the house. Look how lovely (and empty) we left it:

At the end of the day, we met Exile #3 from her bus and went down to the elementary school to meet Exile #4 and E5N1 and get on the road. More goodbyes, including for Exile #3 who went off down the hallways to find her 3rd and 5th grade teachers.

And with that, this chapter closes...and another begins.

Day 7.064: Neither here nor there

I'm neither alone in Maine or home with the family in NY.  I'm actually in Connecticut, but for a very nice reason:

I've partied until after 11 o'clock and now it's WAY past my normal bedtime, so I'll just say a happy and tired goodnight!

Day 7.055: Getting here

Today was a normal run, work, eat, Skype day but tomorrow has all sorts of excitement.

We have just one last hurdle to cross in the sale of our home, and tomorrow, the big one in the purchase of the new one happens. I will be spending a couple of hours at the house with a home inspector hoping to find everything that is wrong with it (and hoping that that is very little!).

After that, I'm heading home to work out what we need to do with the last few weekends I have to sort things out there for the move.  See you on the other side!

Day 7.043: Two steps forward...

...one step back.

As far as we know all is still moving along with the house-sale. Today we chose a house and made an offer, only to discover it had been sold earlier in the day.

But we did all have a nice walk on the beach:

Some of us were chased by waves:

And one was very reluctant to leave:

Day 7.042: A new dawn

Every dawn is new of course.

The photos are new to you but not brand new - I took them when I was out running yesterday morning.

We spent the day looking at houses - a chance to consider what the next phase in our life might look like. It was quite exhausting.

Day 7.041: They might be dinner

Look who turned up, making themselves comfortable in my Maine apartment today:

With someone finally wanting to buy our house in New York (fingers still firmly crossed that it all goes smoothly), they are here so we can look for a new one.

After a quick couple of viewings, it was dinner time - and where would we go, but a restaurant called Silly's?  We had a great meal - selected from the rather silly menu.  We didn't sample "Empire Strikes Mac" or "Eggy Pop", but we did have these:

at the bottom Exile #2's "Imperial Thai Fighter" and up top my, "Birdhouse in my Soul".

Day 7.001: Happy Birthday (NY)

What could be more appropriate than combining the anniversary of our first day as residents of the US with the anniversary of my birth (observed).

Yes it was birthday part 2 today. It included presents and cards, cleaning and tidying and leaving the house for a viewing, Doctor Who cupcakes, The Hobbit part 2 (without E5N1) and lots of hugs.

And so begins the eighth year of the Exile.

Day 6.365: New year's eve

Today is the last day of the year numbered "6" of the Exile, which means that seven years ago today we were flying with our one-way tickets to start a new life in New York.  I didn't write a post on Day 0, but I did look back at it a year later on Day 365.

Today was also a day of travelling west to New York for me. I'm home for a flying visit (not literally - I drove here!) from Maine.

And since none of that really results in anything photographic, here are some pictures of the wildlife at the feeders from our visit to Five Rivers just before most of the rest of the world celebrated the new year.

Day 6.326: Things I've learned #1

Things I've learned from living on my own in Maine #1

I have a dark chocolate granola bar problem.

Day 6.325: A tradition in four parts

When I suggested that, if pushed for time, we might just buy a Christmas tree rather than cutting our own today, I was met with widespread dismay. I hadn't realised that it had become such a tradition but looking back I see that we have done it the last three years in a row - with the added bonus of a pop reference that - including this reveal - has spanned four posts separated by nearly three years:

Day 3.328: The first cut (won't hurt at all)
Day 4.328: The second only makes you wonder
Day 5.327: The third will have you on your knees

Fortunately today there was no bleeding and a minimum of screaming. If you don't remember Propaganda's 1985 hit Duel - here's a clip.

Here's the tree after we had hauled it back from the field.

It's now "up" in the house although resisting the vertical apparently since my departure back to Maine. We didn't get to decorating it - maybe Exile #2 will send me a picture when it's done!

Day 6.298: High flyer

I had a pretty good first day at work.  I have an office - an actual office with a door!

It's a bit bleak, but I put a few books on the shelf and fulfilled the commitment I made when I left my old job on Friday to display this:

It's an trophy made of a Concorde (apologies for the overexposure) mounted on a mask-plate holder. It was first awarded in 2000 and so, following Concorde's demise, it's a historical item in more ways than one!

Day 6.297: Arrived...

... in Maine and started to get moved into my temporary accommodation.  New job starts tomorrow!

Day 6.295: In the last 13 years...

It was my last day after 13 years working for the same company today.

13 years ago:

• There was no Blogger or WordPress.
• I wasn't a parent.
• Home dial-up internet access was a luxury item.
• I had never used Google to search for something (remember AltaVista?)
• Mark Zuckerberg hadn't even gone to college never mind started Facebook.
• I had never had a mobile phone.
• It wasn't too embarrassing to describe the features introduced in ISO 14882:1998 as "new C++" (I was still hearing this less than 5 years ago though!)
• I'd never worn a cleanroom suit.

It's been a long journey, we've been through a lot together, but it has come to an end.

Day 6.286: She's a-getting ready to be-a for sale

This ole house:

Day 6.280: Exiled ME?

A while ago I learned that the job that had brought us to this area from the UK 6 years and - quick check of the post title - 280 days ago was coming to an end. After casting a job-seeking net - at times close to home and at times as distant as California - I have now accepted a new job offer. The trip to the service area selling lobsters was a clue.

The job is in southern Maine, near Portland and not far from where I took one of my all-time favourite photographs while we were visiting with my parents in July 2012:

Most people when they've heard the news have made favourable comments about how beautiful Maine is, some about what a cool little city Portland is. A few have talked about Maine as if it is the frozen tundra - and they may have some of that in the state, but the Portland area has very similar climate to Albany - similar amounts of snow, similar high and low temperatures, so I don't think it will be too much of a shock.

Leaving our friends, neighbours, the area, the schools and this house will be hard but we will cross those bridges when they come.  The agonising over the decision is behind us, and ahead - a whole lot of work!

Day 6.241: Mine & his (craft)

It's fair to say that, despite our tech and geek cred, we're not really early-adopters in this household. So it is that I confess that we have just discovered Minecraft.

E5N1 has been experimenting with it for a week or so - on the iPad, but today in a bit of downtime while Exile #4 was at a birthday party and Exile #2 took Exile #3 out for some last minute back-to-school items, I sat down with him and with my phone entered one of his Minecraft worlds that he was exploring on the iPad.

Of course, I soon needed a challenge and set out to build a house. So, while he made lava rivers and tried to quench them with the traditional kind, I made a two-storey house.  E5N1 made some important contributions too once the structure was basically complete - some lighting for the dingy ground floor, some pictures and bookcases upstairs and - most important of all - a menagerie of creatures spawned in the top floor.  The animals eventually found their way out of the house (except for one cow that couldn't find the stairs) - the chickens were by far the quickest - and into the ocean (you can see them to the left of the top picture):

It's hardly impressive compared with the amazing things that people create in this game, but it was cool way to spend an hour or so!

Day 6.202: Special reproduction

On Sunday Exile #2 and I dipped our toes into doing something other than occupying a pew in our new church by performing the "special music" - three pieces of non-congregational music distributed through the service.

Here is one of the songs we prepared for that - reproduced inexpertly this evening and hastily uploaded to YouTube for your listening pleasure!

Day 6.181: House and home

We went with the kids and Exile #2's parents to visit Oxford today.  Just like London, we'd never taken the children into Oxford to see the place where we met.

We started with an early-lunch picnic and a short boat trip down the river - once again, apart from a stronger breeze, the weather was perfect.  We walked past the church where we got married nearly 19 years ago (picture in top left includes the new entrance - not there in those days).

From there we headed into Exile #2's college - Christ Church - I think she quite enjoyed taking us past the "no visitors" sign.  The four pictures along the bottom are E5N1 sticking his tongue out, the "Harry Potter staircase" and two pictures inside the cathedral (which serves as the college chapel for those who slum it there!).  The cathedral was a surprise hit thanks to a kids treasure hunt which managed to be interesting to all three of the children - no mean achievement these days.

After that we walked through the city to my old college to round off the visit.  It was strange that the new building of which I was one of the first occupants in my third year is now 22 years old!

Another successful trip to round off our time in Oxfordshire for this year.

Day 6.170: Wedding!

My little big sister got married today! We have had a great time. 

Day 6.167: London - here we don't come (yet)!

We had some spectacular views of London as we flew in this afternoon:

However, unlike on our recent visits, Exile #2 and I don't have to start our trip to the UK with a day there to visit the US Embassy to renew our visas. We might make it there as a family for a sightseeing trip - but that can wait until we are a little more in the swing of things.