Temporally misplaced

So call me a lemming, but it's finally time. I may not post about political things much, but I have a very firm stance on LGBTQ issues and have no intention of supporting (in whatever small way) a site that is against it.

So goodbye LJ, and hallo to DW. I expect it will be a little while before I've gotten used to the site and added people back.

This entry was originally posted at http://armillary.dreamwidth.org/210938.html. Please comment there using OpenID.

I just realised that I haven't posted anything here about what's arguably the most important event of my life lately - the birth of our daughter.

On New Year's Day, S was induced to deliver. We knew it was going to happen - she had been dealing with gestational diabetes, taking insulin, managing her carb intake and generally following instructions somewhat startlingly well, as is her usual habit. Nonetheless, the physician did not want to go beyond 39 weeks, and so induction it was.

Not to go into too many details, it was an intense day. The baby was unfortunately not oriented very well, so in the end they had to use forceps to avoid stressing her heart too much, and she came out to meet us around 2 AM on the morning of the 2nd. In spite of fears she'd grow too large, she was just a small thing; 3.2 kg and 47 cm tall, with lots of silky dark brown hair.

As usual for first-time parents we've had some struggles to adjust, but one week into things we're settling down. Our baby girl is nursing, the milk has come in and all three of us are learning to live together. S is still healing, but gradually doing better. We've had the initial health checkup since the delivery, and everything is going fine. We have many friends wishing to help, and with S's parents close by we have plenty of support.

Here's a little quiz a couple of my friends were doing. How many of these things have you done? If you haven't done many, why not set yourself a goal of trying some new things next year?

SCA BUCKET LIST
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Having lived here for two years and change, and inspired by this article, I have some reflections on what it's like to live in the Great White North.

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I'm certain there are more things I could list - this was just off the top of my mind.

There was a Sage on White Hill.

Weaver learned this from Lee, who came bounding into his camp one cool autumn afternoon, just as he was about to head out to check on his traps. Normally, Weaver would take anything Lee said with a fair dose of scepticism. Lee, like most of his kind, was far too likely to put trust in the most fragmentary rumours, but in this case he had already sensed that something was up. The birds had been flying in strange new patterns, and there was a half-remembered scent on the wind, one he had sensed before.
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I've been slightly dreading this day, and now it's here. Mostly due to the fact that I just got used to being a thirty-something kind of guy; by most standards I have a pretty decent life.

As it turned out, today was a little too busy to enjoy properly. At my last update, we were looking for a rental, and were since then successful. We were able to find a small house for rent, but with a nice garden in the back and a walk-out basement. The location is a mixed blessing, but until we know more about S's future work, any place is a guess.

I had the desire to be all moved in by the time of my birthday, and we were mostly successful. Unfortunately, this has also meant that there has been so much to do this week that we are both low on energy. I keep wishing for a few quiet evenings at home, but it will have to wait.

All has not been misery, however. Last weekend S took me for white-water rafting which was fun, and tomorrow we are off to an SCA event and some archery.

After a long wait, it looks as though my days of slacking are coming to an end. Unfortunately, this being the Great White North, I need some transportation to get to my workplace. And given the hobbies I engage in, said transportation should double as an event/long trip car.
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It's been a funny year. Started out with S being bored at home and not able to work, and, well, the tables are turned.

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So, Canada.

After suffering the boredom of a 9-hour flight (fortunately, non-stop) and immigration, everything else turned out to be pretty simple. We hadn't completed the full manifest of our belongings before landing, so we had to return and finish customs paperwork, but all in all, things ran pretty smoothly. The customs people were pleasant and grateful that we were actually complying with instructions (Huh?)

The last couple of weeks have been sort-of-busy - lots of things to do, but not terribly organised in doing them. One thing that has cropped up repeatedly is my complete lack of credit history, meaning I'm apparently not to be trusted with a loan for more than about fifty pence cents. I will eventually get this sorted, but it feels very strange to have to get a credit card just for this reason - I rarely used my last one, and chances are I won't be using this one much either. So far S has been signing off of everything, leaving me as "the man with the wallet".

We're making slow progress; I'm still going to use my UK company until the immigration status clears, and fortunately there's an explicit loophole allowing me to do so. Yay gainful employment, but as this doesn't actually give me payslips or anything else "trustworthy" it still leaves me as an dodgy character whenever loans are negotiated. Hrumph. Seems there's a funny gap between living off your credit cards and being able to buy things outright without any loans.

At least we've now achieved mobility and connectivity in the form of a used car and my parents' left-behind cell phone. Next up is shopping for work for S and finding a decent rental place until my credit history improves.

Plans are ... proceeding. The visa paperwork has finally been sent off to the relevant authorities, and assuming nothing drastic happens, I should be allowed to work once we arrive in our new home. We're hoping it has gotten a little bit drier by then, as Calgary is currently suffering through a 100-year flood.

Plane tickets are booked, and shipping all the crud seems to be doable too. Nothing has been overly expensive so far, but maybe I'm just getting inured to having £1000-sized chunks of my money gobbled up by just living here. No actual work prospects lined up yet, so we'll see. It will definitely be easier to make arrangements once on site. And the exchange rate is pretty decent at present, so I'll be able to rely on my gathered savings.

Otherwise, not much. Haven't done much crafts-wise - my book-binding project suffered a d'oh moment as I managed to make two back covers. Next week I'm off to Florence and EuroPython once more, so no crafting will get done.