Occasionally Wright

Back and Forward

So that was 2006. A contract job became a permanent position, I got married (and picked up four new nieces, two sisters and some in-laws in the process), began the long road to getting a green card, got a cat and went to a whole lot of hockey games. 40, give or take. Plus I got published on TSN, picked up by Deadspin and got to know a team's worth of NHL players.

Not too shabby.

On tap for the first half of this year- buy a house, go to a bunch of NHL playoff games, win a Stanley Cup, possibly lecture at MIT and turn 30.

Dr. Meg

I am now engaged to a doctor. Meg graduated from the UGA College of Veterinary Medicine this morning and will be Dr. Carriere for the next three months before she becomes Dr. Wright on Sept. 2. Way to go Honey!

Busy, busy

So... this is 2006. So far so good, aside from the fact that I have a brutal cold. What will 2006 bring? Well, a wedding, graduation and a new job for Meg, a search for a house/apartment, the possibility of a job extension, or, if not, a job search. Busy times.

Eddies in the Wash

719 visitors checked this site on Friday. I have no idea why, but the previous Friday there were only 99 visitors and that's much more normal.

So what happened to trigger such heavy traffic? I have no clue. The last update was a week ago. Perhaps everyone I know and then everyone they know sensed that something was going on. Perhaps they had a feeling I'd have big news that day.

Well, I did. I just haven't had a chance to post it until now. And what's the big news? I'm getting married. In August. Yes, I'm serious. After almost three years of dating long-distance and just two months of actually living in the same state, let alone country, I popped the question and Meg was crazy enough to say yes.

My apologies to those who didn't get a phone call and are just reading about it now. It's been a crazy weekend.

By the way, I don't expect anyone to get the title of this post, but a few of you might. If you do let me know because I think it's kind of funny.

Family News

I figure she's had all the time she needs to tell the people she wants to tell herself, and anyone she hasn't told that she'd want to tell doesn't read this thing anyway, so I'm happy to announce that my 'little sister' Becky is pregnant with her second baby. Yes, it's weird having a sister that's younger than me who has been married for 5 1/2 years and will have two kids before I'm even married.But congratulations Bec.

Safe and Sound

So... this is Atlanta.

It took me a little longer than planned to get here but I've arrived safe and sound with all of my luggage. I originally attempted to fly down last Friday but was turned back by the US Customs and Border Patrol when I applied for my TN work visa. It's a long story that I'm not going to go into now but basically I:

• was denied a TN visa in Toronto Friday afternoon
• flew back to Ottawa Friday night
• spent a quiet but stressful weekend in Ottawa contemplating my options
• purchased another ticket to Atlanta
• flew down again yesterday, this time through Ottawa, where Customs and Border Patrol are not as busy

And now I'm here. Now I just have to open a bank account, get a social security number, get health insurance, buy a car, register it, get plates and get car insurance. Oh, and start a new job and find an apartment. Piece of cake, right?

Moving On

I don't fly out until Friday but I'm packing up my computer today so this will be my last post from Ottawa. What can I say? It's been an interesting and challenging 3.5 years. I've met some great people, done some great things and I've thoroughly enjoyed living in our nation's capital. I'll miss the Hill, disc golf and the ODGC, the pubs, the Canal in winter and most of all, the people. I won't miss the job market or the ever-present government. Or the inefficient health care.

So long Ottawa.

FYI- If you live anywhere where the night sky can be seen without excessive light pollution you might want to look north around 11-midnight. According to Spaceweather.com we're in for a pretty good aurora show. I saw an impressive display of northern lights from outside Ottawa on Saturday night and it was one of the highlights of my summer. The aurora alert is for people in all hemispheres, not just Canada.

I ought to be back on line and posting by the middle or end of next week. In the meantime I should be checking email.

Back

After spending a week at home with my family I'm back in Ottawa. Now I have ten days to pack and move to Atlanta (I fly out on the 16th). Anyone want to buy some stuff? Small, cheap shelves? A VCR? Books? VHS movies? And does anyone know of any organizations in Ottawa accepting clothing donations for Katrina victims? If I can't find any I'm more than happy to donate stuff to local groups.

On the Road Again...

The craziness here isn't going to end for at least a few weeks as I get everything ready for the move down to Atlanta. I do get a bit of a break before the big rush though as I'm going home to PEI for a week. Tomorrow is my last day of work at the call centre and then I head to PEI first thing Tuesday morning. I'm expecting to be offline most of the week so this place is gong to be pretty quiet. Even when I get back posting will be minimal until I get settled down in Atlanta (moving day is September 16). I'll try to post some fun tidbits when I can though.

Guilt-Free Relaxation

For the first time in about two years I have a day off and I can do whatever I want without feeling guilty about not job-hunting. You have no idea how good this feels. And to think I owe getting the job to connections I made through blogging and to the blogs themselves, among other things.