So...have you decided what your plans are for next year yet?

Well, I can finally answer an affirmative "yes" to that question. We have made the final decision. We are....actually....going...to Boston. Well, not exactly Boston, we'll be living about a 1/2 hour outside of Boston. But we are going to MA, and the Boston area. I've accepteda position at the New England Center for Children (http://necc.org), and will start there in September. I'll start my Master of Science in applied behavior analysis at Northeastern University in January.

At the ABA conference in Atlanta, I went to some presentations by people at NECC, and realized that that is REALLY where I need to be. The research they were presenting is exactly what I want to do - combining my interests in stimulus equivalence research with my interests in autism. Also - I realized it's highly unlikely that I'll be getting a stipend to Ohio state. All things considered, NECC was origionally my first choice, and even having the opportunity to work there will be great. Also - Boston was Daryl's first choice for where to re-locate. And, as I found out, he'd rather move there than stay here - he's such an adventure and travel nut :-)

Daryl has secured 3 months of remote contract work (translation - no visa required) and will be elligable for a TN visa as of Sept/October. He'll start looking for work when we get there and by the time he's elligable he should be close to having a job offer. Once he finds a job, he can apply for a TN visa (the same one I'm going down on), which only takes a matter of hourse to process (at a boarder though). His job is one of those on the TN job list, and we'll probably hire an immigration lawyer just for at least a bare minimum look over his application, as it seems wording is crucial. The people at NECC also gave me the name of an IT company that frequently hires canadians on TN visas. It looks like a great company, and has 5 locations close to where we'll be living, and numerous entry-level openings at each of those locations. So, Daryl will be researching that company in preparation.

So - best case scenario - Daryl gets a job and a TN visa, I start graduate studies in Jan, and we settle in for the next few years. Worst case scenario - Daryl can't get a visa, and I finish out my contract year working at NECC, and we change plans for the following year (this is b/c my salary would be enough to support us, but not to pay tuition as well).

We're very excited, but also very nervous!! Only about 3 months to go!

So...getting reay by printing moving lists and advice from http://flylady.net and www.realsimple.com . Researching US vehicles and insurance stuff, cost of flying vs driving (which we'd prefer to do, as we'd love to have the road trip!), moving the cat and the best way to do that, and looking into housing in MA.

Starting the de-cluttering process as well. Daryl sorted out the attic storgage, and big brothers is doing a pick up on Monday. I'm going to start by sorting through my clothes and bagging up whatever I don't love for BB.

much to do! but marking is done until July, so I have a bit of time to adjust and get sorted out. Off to clean and bake and go crazy with all that since I actually have the afternoon off!