Travels

It’s my dad’s birthday today. We’re taking him out tonight, to West Coast for a meal. He’s doing really, really well. His voice is back to normal now, and his walking is really coming on. He can walk a fair distance with just a stick for support. He could walk a long way if it wasn’t for his eyes – if there’s a lot going on around him he gets dizzy. I think it’s just a matter of practice, though – he needs to re-learn to cope with activity around him.

We’re still living with Raine’s family. I’m exhausted and can’t bring myself to look at flats at the moment. There are a few possibilities, but I need a break from house hunting. The thought of having to handle another move is overwhelming...and the idea of dealing with another estate agent/looking at another shit tip makes me want to cry!

We got the surfboard, and it’s mighty fine! Can’t wait to get out on the waves with it. Just need a wetsuit now. The roadtrip was great – the weather was amazing... it was indistinguishable from a beautiful summers day. We were hoping the weather would hold, and we’d get to have a beach BBQ on Sunday. Of course the weather didn’t hold... as soon as we said ‘BBQ’ clouds came racing over, carried by gale force wind. I’ve concluded that the ‘b word’ is how we’ve cursed the last two summers... and, come to think of it, our wedding reception!

We’re off to Newquay in two weeks. Where we will definitely not be having any beach BBQs;-) We’re having two days of surfing lessons, and after that we’ll probably take ourselves into the water, unsupervised. It is impossible to overestimate the extent to which I’m looking forward to Newquay. I love it there; it is, without a doubt, the coolest place in the UK.

At the moment I have an urge to run away – I want to up sticks and set up in someplace new, like we did in Newquay. I’ve not wanted to up sticks and leave for a long while...I always want to go on short trips, but I’ve not wanted to leave indefinitely since we got settled in Lancaster. I think it’s because I’m essentially homeless. My feet are starting to touch the ground, after all the rapid upheaval, and I’m finding there’s no stability. I don’t know where I’m going to be living in a few months, I don’t know if I’ll get funding for a PhD, I don’t know what the long term situation with my dad’s going to be...

I received an offer of a PhD place in Lancaster at the start of the week. Now I just need the funding to go with it! Lancaster is crazy, and even though it’s now up to the individual institutions to allocate funding they don’t tell applicants until July. There’s a job at the University that would be ideal, it’s at the Students’ Union (where I worked for over a year, and won an award: Student Employee of the Year), but it’s full time. I would study alongside the position, obviously, but it would mean a very full on schedule. If I have to get a job it’s ideal, though, and I know if I leave it until July, and I don’t get funding, I’m going to have to settle for something awful.