Goodbye 2009… hello family!

We call it Christmas… in the US, they call them the ‘holidays’… “Happy holiday season” they sing as they whoosh off in plumes of Disney snow.

Holidays. Humbug… The bit from the 23rd to 28th December was less like a holiday and more like a crayzee road-trip around the UK to visit family all too fleetingly, and then a return to Bristol for Jo to go back to work and for me to try and get as much admin out of the way as possible whilst the forces that be conspired against it. The Solicitor was on leave. The car was dying ever more each day. The new car was snowed in and couldn’t get to the MOT test centre.

The first few days of the year were a frustrating case of hurry up and wait.

And then came a break-through day… Sunny, bright, crisp, clean, busy and very productive.

Now, we have a pretty good idea that the house-sale should be completed by the end of January (and everyone else in the chain agrees). I’m already looking forward to moving into a house that is heat-able above 10 degrees without a fire, doesn’t have a half inch gap under the front door and in which we can sleep without our breath condensing and raining onto the duvet overnight. We’ve already started packing in preparation.

We also managed to pick up the new (old) car which drives beautifully and is so much bigger.

Work-wise, the year is looking interesting. I’ve got a number of grant applications gently bubbling. Things based in Deaf Studies are still uncertain because of the bigger picture. However, once we’re a bit clearer on that, I’m going to be working hard to get applications in there too. There are also several opportunities to publish, including an outlet for regular, critically commentated translations.

Family-wise, things change completely too… because, of course, the 3rd of March sees Jo reach 40 weeks… and we’ll be three!

Which all means that the entire focus changes. To be honest, last year was tough. It was very much a short-term year with our eyes fixed only a few weeks ahead… we didn’t know the bigger lay of the land, or where things were going to go and we were really stretched.

Our priority in 2010 has to be different. Now, we’re here, and settling and setting up for 5, 10, 20 years time… which means refocusing on targets that are further away. And that means that we’re working on getting to long-term goals. That in turn will mean overlooking some short-term possibilities.

So here’s my wish list for 2010…

First priority has to be to have time for Jo and the baby… nothing can get in the way of this.

Second has to be to set up for an academic career… and to do that I need to get funding, publish and think about dissemination opportunities and teaching. So I’m looking to:

• Submit at least three grant applications in the next twelve months (one ESRC, one AHRC, one Leverhulme) and two postdoc applications (ESRC, Britac)
• Publish at least three papers (with at least one to the Deaf field and one to the geography field)
• Present at least twice in different formats in the UK if possible
• Regularly post on this blog

Third is to enjoy the extra time that not running after every possibility will give me at home, at work, at Church, with friends, and with myself to get involved in at least one theological pursuit group, extend my learning of Welsh, take up some kind of regular musical activity and ride my bike more.

I didn’t realise that I was writing a list of new years resolutions… but I appear to have done just that.