Friday, June 09, 2006

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!

10 comments:

Rachel said...

This is exciting news, Tyla! Congratulations on having a plan in place for next year...it sounds like a great situation. (Except for the long distance...we'll miss you even more!)
Love, Rachel and Jon

Magnificent M said...

I was holding out on my excitement... I know that you turned to me in the airport and announced "I've decided I'm going to NECC" but I thought it might just be the excitement of being in hairball speaking. But you are free of the grasp of the hairball and you remain committed to this so now I can say

CONGRATULATIONS!!! EXCELLENT CHOICE!!

I am bummed (okay when I originally typed this I typed bunned!) that you are a) going far away and b) missing my re-wedding. that stinks.

But I am glad you have been able to come to a decision. I think its the best choice of the three (always have ;-)) and I think it is the most practical decision. I'm glad you could finally work out the visa situation as reallly, that was the only barrier wasn't it!

Sadly you will not be at ABA though in San Diego so when will I ever see you again??!!! we must have an evening or something before you go. We will need to pack at least a year's worth of dancing in :-)

T. said...

Thanks Rach (and Jon!). Michelle - I know, it is a bummer to be away and kind of scary, since we are taking a bit of a risk. When is your re-wedding going to be - Septemebr?? They haven't set the Sept. intake dates yet, so I don't know exactly when we'll be going. I can't believe I'll miss it. Other friends of ours are getting married in Oct. too. :-( The first of many missed occasions I would imagine.

But - ABA - WHY wouldn't I be there? Do you know something I don't know? I mean I guess they can't let the entire staff take off to ABA, but I'll make sure I get involved in some kind of presentation so they have to let me go. I think someone said that they help pay for us to go too!

Regardless- yes, we HAVE to have a night.

Magnificent M said...

you will be low on the seniority so I doubt you'll be able to go. Katie A. was able to come to Chicago but only after working there for a million years. They can only let a small number of people go because of course they need to have staff on hand... :-(

T. said...

Well that's icky.

Magnificent M said...

ehh, so you miss one conference, you'll catch the next :-) its worth it

Kassianni said...

BOSTON!! That's on the other side of the world! How exciting? Have you located a church there yet? There are probably many to choose from. OCA, Antiocian. My prayers are with you. Happy packing.

T. said...

Thanks Victoria!! There are several Churches to choose from, and yep, many of them have Antiochian backgrounds. We're going to wait till we've decided exactly what area we're living in - Then we'll figure out the surrounding Churches and try them out! So much packing to do for sure!

Magnificent M said...

I just thought of something, at least you can go to the ABA autism conference, its in Boston :-)

maybe I'll have to go to that one afterall, just as an excuse to see you... then I can write off my flight!

T. said...

I was totally thinking that!! You HAVE To come to it! That would be excellent!