Back from the UK, for the moment. Tomorrow morning I leave for Seattle. I had a great time, even though I was sick for practically the entire trip. We stayed in London for Valentine's weekend, which was really nice. We went on the Eye for a sunset flight and actually got lucky enough to see some sun through the clouds!

We also saw Avenue Q in the West End, which is flippin hysterical! Seriously, if you get the chance, you'll love it. e:Rory has a favorite line from the song "The Internet is Made for Porn"....'just grab your dick and double click'. Schadenfreude was probably my second most favorite song...feeling joy in watching other's misfortune. I know, so evil....but it'll make you laugh.

e:Imk2, I think the unexpected full on puppet sex was my favorite scene. It reminded me of this old Peter Jackson film "Meet the Feebles"

I finally got to meet e:Rory's dad who is a nice old hippy rocker who reminds me of the character Walter from La Femme Nikita TV series. He also chants the fastest Nam-myoho-renge-kyo I've ever heard in my life. I was a little concerned he wouldn't want to visit the states for our wedding, but when we mentioned it he seemed to be all smiles He went on and about how great a guy he thinks Rory turned out to be, and I of course agreed. It was really great to see how happy he was for e:Rory.

I had so much fun learning to drive on the other side of the car, and road, down these incredibly narrow country lanes! I only hit the curb a few times. I did freeze my tootsies off at his house though, he has no heat. We also slept on some unusual sized 1930's spring in your rib kind of mattress. I think it was a 'twin plus'? We barely squeezed on it and I'd either push Rory almost off the other side or he'd elbow me in the head. Great fun, lovely memories!

We visited the Cheddar caves and ate REAL cheddar cheese, as in made IN Cheddar, stored IN the actual caves. It was super delicious. Plus the caves were awesome, I love caving.

I got to meet a lot more of e:Rory's friends, which was wonderful. It's always great to meet someone you've heard so much about. The wedding was straight up out of 4 Weddings and a Funeral, which I loved.

I have more to say about it, and photos, but am rushed to wrap things up right now. e:Rory got me an awesome notebook computer to travel with, it's so freaking tiny! This way I can keep it in my day bag and it seriously weighs less than the book I'm reading right now (The 19th Wife, really good). Ciao!

I made it to Seattle. It was a long journey.

I'm suffering the jetlag of an 11 hour time difference. Yikes.

I miss e:Rory like mad.

We start interviewing potential candidates tomorrow early morning.

I love Discovery channel, I'm so happy my hotel has it.

Ciao.

It's snowing here. Pretty big change from the 80F in Doha. Seattle, what little I've seen of it, is really nice. It has a very walkable downtown area, and there are bookstores everywhere. I think the people at Barnes and Nobles know me already I've been in there so many times. That's something I really miss, bookstores and libraries. Sometimes you forget just how much you miss them until you have access to them again!

I'm on a short break from another long day of interviews. The great news is we have a few strong candidates and I'm excited about getting to work with someone I like. It's important to me, especially in the work I do, to have comrades. I really like that I get to have input this time, unlike last time, which was a negative experience.

Good things are on the horizon, I can feel the tingle in my tummy!

Today has been joyful and taxing. We finally finished our 3rd full day of interviewing candidates. It has been great having the opportunity to interview folks for professional position. I've interviewed loads of student staff, but this is different. I guess it was also fun to sit on the other side of the table, knowing they are experiencing the same things I was a few years agao.

Once we were finished and tore down our booth, I took an adventurous little trip to Target. I did my homework online to figure out the bus route. It took about 40 minutes to get out there (only 20 to get back) and it was worth the journey. Of course, it didn't cost a dime to get out there, which is either odd or we did something wrong and cheated the system. I don't quite understand how the buses work here. I know it's free in a certain downtown zone, but we rode way the hell out into the burbs. No matter...I was able to pick up e:Rory's requested jersey sheets and some more pumpkin candles, as well as a few other bits and bobs. I grabbed a few Easter eggs for an activity I'm doing and stocked up my favorite gum. Yay.

I've been having a hard time sorting out a change in my return flight because of the major time difference. So, I began to panic this evening. We found out when e:Rory's grandfather's funeral is, and I am doing whatever I have to do to be there with my amazing future husband and his family.

I talked with my boss and supervisor about the situation and how it's very important to me to be there. They agreed. It means giving up another presentation (I see a trend in my professional development follies) but there is no question in my mind that I should be with e:Rory instead of in a room talking about sustainability. My supervisor has graciously agreed to step in for me and that means a lot to me. I am going to miss her when she leaves QF.

e:Rory and I are formally, officially, 100% engaged! We are so happy!

This is how it went down:

He asked me on Friday the 13th in an old graveyard next to the old church in Ingatestone (his hometown). He got down on one knee. I was so overwhelmed with emotion I could hardly speak.

A small group of teenage boys that had just gotten out of school were coming down the path behind us, saw him on bended knee, and started shouting various congratulatory remarks and woohoo's. They passed us as we hung in a tight embrace, savoring the moment.

As we left the graveyard we rounded a corner to the Co-Op and the same boys were standing outside. They lined themselves up by the door and as we walked in started humming/singing "Da dum de dum, da dum de dum". It was very cute.

We just wanted to share our joy with all of you!

Thanks everyone for your congrats! We are super stoked about it! Rather than planning the wedding surrounding some grand idea I've had since childhood (because I don't have one), we're letting the circumstances play out and kind of determine the details.

Thus far, circumstance has told us it's going to be in the US, most likely in Buffalo. It has also told us it's either going to be October 30th or 31st.

Now I know what some of you are thinking. Yes, I love Halloween to bits but I seriously did not select these dates! But I can see having lots of fun with it, fo sho! Keep your calendars free!

I think we'll try to get to the states late summer to take care of 'in person' details. So, I'm sure we'll throw together a nice big bonfire experience and hope you'll all join us for a little engagement celebration


Here's a pic shortly after he asked me. I look weird, but whatever, I was all kinds of crying and shaking and it's hard to take two person self-portraits. At least my long arms come in handy sometimes!


This was our little 'celebration' at London Heathrow Airport while we were waiting for our flight back to Doha. Seriously, the Virgin Atlantic lounge is freaking amazing there!

Promise, last blurb about engagement and wedding for a while! The date has been finalized.

Mark you calendars for Saturday, October 31st! Yes, it landed on Halloween and I didn't plan that AT ALL. But hey, when you project what would make you most happy, all the universe conspires to make it so!

So we have these Friday programs called "Friday Night Lights" which our CDAs conduct. It's meant to give residents something to do on the weekends on campus. Sometimes they are separated by gender, sometimes (as long as it's outdoors) they host a joint program.

This week's (and I'm of course on duty) is a 'cowboy' theme. Get this. Country music (Oh My Gag), BBQ, dressing up in 'cowboy' clothes (I'm still unsure what this is going to look like), and shooting bow and arrows!

I almost shit myself when I first saw the program proposal. I mean, first, what do bow and arrows have to do with cowboys? More importantly, I don't want to lose an eye! I asked a lot of questions about who will supervise, what type of arrow, etc. etc. I was informed there were appointed instructors and the arrows were blunt tipped wooden style. So I approved it on condition of a strict protocol for safety and if at ANY moment I see someone being a prick, I'm shutting it down.

Today I finally SEE the arrows. They are aluminium and pointy sharp as hell! What have I gotten myself into?

Wish me LOTS of luck!

Update on previous post: no one lost an eye!

There are some changes happening at work. I have a temporary divider wall to allow e:Rory to visit me in my home but that will be coming down next year because we need more space for students (my end of the hall currently houses me and 2 contingency rooms). No divider would mean he couldn't live with me once we're married because the country's moral codes don't allow co-habitation in this setting, even for married couples.

That combined with the fact we're running out of space has lead to the decision that RHDs are being moved off campus to community housing. This is unheard of in my position but until our new facilities are built, we are in a pickle. It means we would have to move back to a campus apartment whenever we're on duty...all of us sharing one apartment. I'm both pleased and annoyed by this. Pleased because it means nicer accommodations and lower noise. Annoyed because who wants to uproot their life one week a month (or more depending on vacation schedules) to live in a shared space?

The bigger changes are that people are leaving. A fellow RHD couldn't hack it so she's outie, and I'm totally cool with that. So I knew we had to find a replacement. I helped interview several while I was in Seattle. What I didn't know until I got to Seattle is that my supervisor has also decided to leave. She's been here for 3 years so it's cool. You can only sacrifice so much for so long. I just assumed they would post for that position like all our others and someone would replace her. That is not so.

The other day I was called into the big cheese's office along with another fellow RHD who has been here since the start with me to have a briefing. The low down is, my supervisor's position will be taken over, with some new responsibilities, to her existing equal. The current equal will be promoted. The remaining coordinator position will take over the other responsibilities, which are probably the least fun of all the things you could do in housing - assignments, billing, maintenance, etc.

At this briefing they say they would rather promote from within instead of having to open up the search outside. So, basically we have the opportunity to apply for it. Now comes the part of weighing pros and cons.

Pros:
Chance for a new challenge
Shows upward mobility on my resume
Increase in pay grade
On-call duties marginal compared to RHD position
Opportunity to supervise other professionals
Freedom from petty conduct issues that plague my desk
Work hours much more in line with my future spouse's
Not having to move back and forth to campus while on duty

Cons:
Interaction with the students (for the fun stuff) will greatly decrease
Participation in staff training would decrease substantially
I'm not a morning person so a 7:30am start time makes me cringe
The tasks are purely administrative
My fellow RHD and I are both qualified- if he applies as well it would boil down to a popularity contest which I would lose, and that irritates me on principle
Although I would be happy for him, I cannot say 100% that I would be 'resent free', especially if he then became my supervisor

Other thoughts:
If I don't apply, do I lack ambition to move upward?
Another position, for which my fellow RHD would be most suited for, is possibly opening up next year, definitely the year after...would he get this one, then switch to the other?


Ultimately I want to be happy in my work. There are things I would miss about what I do right now, but I think professionally it would be a wise move, and personally, it would help e:Rory and I lead a slightly more 'normal' life in our first year of marriage.

I just needed to talk out loud.