Auntie Jude and Auntie Al don't think people post enough, so I am doing my small part to change that. Hopefully this means a better Christmas present.
I had a great weekend staying at Auntie Jude's. Friday we ordered in pizza and watched Love Actually, which is probably my favourite Christmas movie ever. It just makes me feel so happy at the end. On Saturday we headed out to do some shopping, and got a lot accomplished. I finished almost all of my shopping, so that is nice. And it isn't even December! That evening we went for schnitzel, which was delicious, and then headed off to Schmoozy. It was really fun. I was Auntie Jude's advisor on how much to bid on the ones she liked. I liked the art for the most part. There were a few pieces I just didn't get though. They kind of left me shaking my head. But I really like to two that Auntie Jude won. Today was just a lazy day. We had grand plans of decorating her condo, but then decided we were just too tired. I quite like the just sitting around kind of days. Auntie Al came over for supper, and then we watch the Amazing Race. It was very exciting. I will definately always know where my money and passport are, and keep a firm grip on them. So really, it is an educational show.
Wednesday is my last day of classes. I'm pretty excited to be done them, but more excited to be done exams. I finish on Dec. 16, and will probably head back to Rocky with Auntie Jude on the 20th.

Bogged Down

I've been pretty much swallowed by school the last few weeks, feeling like I'm swimming through honey - I'm make progress, but its slow.  I had all my papers and assignments planned out, but I got a bit behind.  Right now I'm working on the longest paper that I've ever had to write (20 pages), but the assignment is clearly laid out, so that makes it a bit easier.  Lots of reading though! I've got to learn the greek alphabet, and how to transliterate greek characters into latin characters, but I have all next weekend to do that.  If, however, anyone wants to know the generic form for wonder stories (miracles) in ancient literature, just let me know!

 There are two upsides 1) I'm finished everything a week from Tuesday, so I'm going to Victoria for a few days, and then off to Rocky for a month and 2) If I do a lousy job on any of my papers, I get a chance to rewrite them in January.  It's a strange system, but I'm glad enough of the safety net.

What About This One?

OK, now we are seriously thinking about this one.

It's in Glenmore, around the corner from Highland Dr.
Cheaper and in better condition than the other. The kitchen floor is cork. And the kitchen itself is a thing of beauty.
And we could suite it or Richard could work out of the house, doing massage. It's set up well for that...
No jacuzzi tub, but the bathtub is a deep one.

Pre-Accepted!

They have pre-accepted me! I have to now do up my formal application for the January 5 deadline. But I'll get it in before that, so I can go on xmas vacation and FORGET about it.

Finally Feeling settled

I think I am finally realizing, I am home for awhile, seems to have taken some time to get to that point. I was still feeling a little on edge, like I might have to pack up and go out of town for work again. So things are looking brighter.

I have been at the project for a month now, and it is still pretty chaotic. We had one guy who was there for 3 weeks, did not work out, and has not been back. Then on another team, the guy they brought in to be the team lead, was out of his depth, so they moved him back to be a BA, and moved one of the BA's to be the team lead. The team lead on the payroll team, came in and it was a complete surprise to her she was the team lead, she thought she was going to be the BA. And I have been helping out on some other teams (I am supposed to be on the Benefits Team), because there are not enough people, especially not enough people who have some of the history, on why some of the customizations were done. Kind of a crazy place.

The week before last, I was feeling very upset. I would go into meetings, and if the Project Manager was there, and I would talk, bringing up what I thought were valid points to the discussion, I felt as though she was totally cutting me off, as if I had nothing to contribute. I talked to a couple of IBM colleagues, to make sure I was not being ultra sensitive, and they said they noticed it too. What to do!! Well, I am not very good with confrontation, but I decided I would not continue to work in an environment like that. So I set up a meeting with Biljana (the PM) for Monday, which meant the whole weekend of worrying about it. Late Monday afternoon, I finally got to talk to her, and she was shocked that I felt that way. She is very direct and does not always consider what impact that might have on people. She told me I am doing a good job, and she appreciates that I am flexible, and helping out with other teams etc. That made me feel better, however I am not sure if that is all over with or not. Guess I will just have to see how things move along. I some times forget, that in working with all different kinds of people, the way you see it is not necessarily the way they intend it to be seen. I also think I am much better about dealing with things that bug me, and doing soemthing about it, then before, so I guess it is true you never stop learning. But for awhile, I thought I might be asking for a job at Latitude much sooner than I had planned.

Bert and Ernie Try Gangsta Rap

You really have to watch this.

As of next March Geoff will be a retiree. Although one who still has to work. He finally got totally fed up at work and gave his notice last week. Then that night we went to the hospital gala because BP had bought a table and nobody had bothered to organize people to go. Anyway Geoff had quite a bit of the wine at the table and when the live auction started, he suddenly remembered that he had a company credit card. So he joined in on the bidding on BP's behalf. They bought a fully decorated rotating Christmas tree and some Flames tickets. Then he gave the tree back and the next highest bidder got it so it made twice the money.
The gala was fun. They raised $200,000 for the hospital. Geoff wasn't feeling the best the next day but he had to go in and explain BP's charity to them.

We blew into Edmonton Friday night and out again Saturday. Had Thai food with Jude and Allison Friday night. The Rossdale power plant where Geoff first worked in Edmonton is being demolished so there was a sort of good-bye function for people who had worked there on Saturday. Geoff and Ken went and Jude and I went shopping. Then Geoff and I went to Red Deer and had supper at Linda's which was a good time. We are planning a trip to GP sometime in the spring.

It's raining out and Geoff has gone to Red Deer for a meeting so I hope they are careful driving home by which time the rain will probably be ice.

Lisa, I say buy the house.

Black hole

This is what Nick looks like when he is sleeping.

Information Doesn't Want a Fatwa

I'm going to see Salman Rushdie tonight at the Winspear. And going to a one-day conference tomorrow at which Nancy Pearl is speaking! Yes, that Nancy Pearl. She's talking about why people like the books that they like. I think it has something to do with dustjackets. When I was talking to a work friend about my interest in how people think an 'information container' (book, webpage, journal, article) has 'authority' (can be trusted for leisure purposes or work information), she said she'd like to understand why we remove all the dustjackets from the books at UA Libraries. Maybe because a plain hardcover without pictures seems more 'scholarly.'

___

I didn't realize that the talk was an interview between Eleanor Wachtel & Rushdie for Writers & Company! It's going to be on the radio. I really like her most out of all the CBC One radio hosts. And he was really really funny.

Hi ho

That, my friends, is Stephen Cipes from Summerhill Winery.

We went to Everest last night. A Nepalese/Indian restaurant run by an extremely nice man. Plus it is reasonably priced. So Richard approves too.

I finally got bulbs planted and feel that the yard can safely be left until spring without shame on my part. Though there is still a lot I could do, I won't sigh with despair every time I look at it.

I also got my legal/ethical assignment pretty much finished for my mental health course. Though it is annoying because I have to use charts etc. that are at work, and when I am working on it, I am at home, so can be diffcult and stupidly time wasting. I like the idea of a legal/ethical assignment, but this one does not seem interesting enough for me.

On Friday I did the charge nurse workshop, and we did True Colours-I am Green/Blue. Most nurses are Blue/Gold.

chocs

Chocolate weekend. Jude and Al blew in on Saturday, we made chocolates and they blew out again on Sunday. We had everything dipped in two hours, cleanup done in 3.
Which was all good because I was feeling sick with a cold. I feel a bit better today.
Sam and Grace came with the aunts but don't have to go back until tomorrow. They were hoping to be here for a while tomorrow but their ride is leaving in the morning. I was just thinking that Geoff and I shouldn't get too get too used to being alone because with everyone here at Christmas time, it may be a big adjustment.
Have to decide if I will go to the Remembrance Day service. The kids and I usually go, but they won't be here this year and I don't know if I want to go by myself. You have to get there 45 minutes or so early or you don't get a seat. The number of people never seems to dwindle. I have to work tomorrow but I am only going in at noon to do circulation, the office is officially closed.

I get these TV obsessions. For the longest time all I wanted to watch was house shows, real estate or decorating programs. Now I am dying to watch documentaries. I really like Newsworld, there are good documentaries on there. There is a new CBC documentary channel but we don't get it. Probably have to get a lot of other garbage along with it if we wanted to subscribe. Why can't we choose the channels we want to pay for?
Has anyone seen the documentary "Boogieman: The Lee Atwater Story"? It was really good.
Geoff has been in Edmonton all week. He took the car so he could get it checked out at the Nissan dealer, which he did and it is fine. So I had to drive a truck all week. I felt like I was in a tank.
There was a bit of snow falling this morning but it has all melted.

Barack!

We went over to Mom's last night for supper and ate it in front of the TV, watching the American election. So happy that Barack won. Not that it will be easy, given the present state of the country. I think I have a crush on him.
Allison and I are going to Puerto Vallarta in January! Richard didn't want to go, but I reallyy wanted a warm vacation, so....we will be doing a poor global community thing. Though I am wondering if there is something we could do while we're down there to minimize this? I might steal hospital supplies and give to people? If anyone would like to join us, that would be delightful. It's cheap-1100 for the whole deal-all inclusive-taxes etc.
Have to go to physio now, will update more later.