Fredericton

I'm remiss in my posting, but the week just blew by!

We arrived in F'ton on Monday evening, 17 March, and were met by our realtor and host, K. On Tuesday we had the most beautiful blue sky day. Perfect for our first stroll to the back of the lot. P and I wore snowshoes as w/out it was easy to sink to at least knee high. We met the builder and talked about the siting, etc. We also realized that if we position things right, and the property behind us remains empty, we have a bit of a view to the river. After picking up lunch, we went back to K's house and spent several hours with the builder getting questions answered, etc. Later that afternoon - at least I think it was that afternoon - K and her husband, H, occupied 7YO for a couple of hours so that P and I could look at flooring, etc.

On Wednesday we visited more stores, including the place from which we'll get the woodstove, and had lunch with the fellow from whom we may be subletting this summer. Then we visited the school that 7YO will attend. They call it "Little House on the Prairie with electricity." It has about 100 students, one class per grade, and is just down the hill from the property. 7YO has been attending a French Immersion school here and we debated his continuing, but that decision was made easier by the province's (unpopular) decision to cut early immersion. Perhaps I can post on that another time. What really upset me is that they are also cutting early core French so we'll have to find a tutor, lest he lose what he's gained these past two years.

We did a bunch of running around on Thursday; had to make a trek to Chapters, of course, but also found some building materials (e.g., tile) that we love. On Thursday evening our hosts invited a law prof and his wife, recently retired from the library where P would like to work, as well as a couple of others to dinner. When these guys do dinner it's a four hour event. No kidding. They are both professional and avocational foodies. As in January, it was awesome.

Friday was a holiday so we just hung out, packed, worked on housing info, etc. 7YO got to see more deer hanging out in the back yard and play with our hosts' dogs. I think he was just in heaven.

On Friday night we opted for a hotel so that we would be closer to the airport as we had to get up at 3:15 to make a 5:45 flight. We did so and while waiting at the gate the flight was cancelled for mechanical reasons. I about had a meltdown. But, they got us on a flight to Ottawa with a connection to Toronto, reasoning that we were less likely to get stuck on Toronto than F'ton. There wasn't another flight available from F'ton that day and with the weather there was a chance that the next morning would be problematic, too. So, by 10:30 am we were in Toronto. But, there were no more flights to Minnesota on Saturday so we stayed at the airport Hilton courtesy of Air Canada.

We went to a place called the Playdium so that 7YO could have some fun and then hung out at the hotel. But, the highlight of the delay was, as you likely have already seen, is that we got to meet Tom and Emilio of Canadian Hope! They drove out to the hotel and picked us up and off we went for brunch. Not that you have any doubts, but they are just as fabulous as I imagined they'd be. We're looking forward to being able to see them in the Maritimes this summer!

Our flight left around quarter to 5 Sunday afternoon and we were back at our house by about 7 Sunday evening. Not quite the 10:30 Saturday morning that it was supposed to be, but well worth it having been able to meet the guys.

This morning I had a meeting with my dean to talk about options for some distance teaching following my sabbatical and while I don't want to post details here, I am comfortable saying that things look promising for my being able to work for the university while remaining in F'ton. Fingers crossed. He's going to walk it through the VP's office, but doesn't imagine a problem.

That's about it for today. I'm exhausted! More as it happens!