2 weeks til Orlando!

Sheesh, where has the time gone?

There are people putting up Christmas lights, and I have not started to think of it yet. Someone said they were at someone's house, and they had a Christmas tree up. As Louise would say, 'give me a break'

Nick somehow escaped outside this am, we found him by shaking food container. He got in, Sebastian sniffed him, then hissed at him. Weirdo. Is that the only way cats identify each other?

I have to work on essay this weekend. Class has been ok, though not super interesting. To be frank, nursing theories don't really do a lot for me. I think they try to simplify and make sense of things that are much too complex. There are always situations that don't fit into the theory-so then what is the point of it? Thank heavens we did not focus on them in my undergrad. The interesting piece for me is that I can see where the ideas and focus of the prof directs the content of the class. This class is not at all what I thought it would be-I think it could be lot more interesting, but this prof is into quantitative stuff (research focussed on data such as numbers etc) vs qualitative analysis (research focussed on personal experience-looking for themes in what people say for instance). Hence the focus on nursing theory which attempts to quantify and nail down nursing knowledge.

I tend towards qualitative, seeing reality as more individually based. So, I have been trying to tailor what I do towards what this prof likes. She is probably an anomaly in this program and when UBC took over Okanagan University College, they initially had her as dean of the program. She isn't anymore, but brings in a lot of money, I think, lots of grant work etc. Lots of articles.
 

Politics, it's everywhere.

Happy Birthday Anne

Mom's over here

Mom is now staying over here while her house gets disassembled and then reassembled. We think this will be about 2 weeks.
Clem is staying back at the ranch for the time being, as Mom thinks that she will have less upheaval staying there, so long as Mom comes over and visits her. Mom is going to ask the asbestos clean up people if Clem will be ok over there, if she is in Mom's bedroom. As Mom says, 'I don't want Clem to get lung cancer'. Poor Clem, her life is difficult.

Not much else new here, I have the 3rd member of my thesis committee-yay-she will be great I think.

We went to Nakusp for the long weekend.  we were happy to see that the hippie type guy who does not wear shoes in summer, and wears only sandals is alive and well. He has found a new restaurant to sit in, and write whatever he writes. A couple times we have been there and not seen him which concerned us. Where was he? Was he OK? We thought of asking someone what his story was, then thought it is actually better not to know and just guess.

Happy Birthday Henry

The Winter of My Discontent

I'm not really discontented. But I am very tired these days. I am winding down at work, and trying to keep myself rolling with my readings, as I prepare for my comprehensive exams. They start on December 10, and go for either 7 or 10 days, and I'll write 5-6 essays during that time. But it's open book, working at home. My friend Tami, who got her doctorate a couple years ago, said that it was all about information management, rather than memorizing -- so knowing where you can get more information or quotes -- so good note-taking and binder-filling. No binders of women! Just information!

I've done the storybook recordings at the prison three times in the last 2 months, and do it once more at the end of this month. Although when I went on Saturday, I brought two big bags of christmas picture books for inmates, and I had done lots of errands on the way there, and then once I got in, I realized I forgot my laptop for doing the actual recording. ugh.

I've also been cooking a lot. I'm endeavouring to use all the vegetables from my vegetable delivery box, rather than just letting some of them go bad and guiltily putting them in the compost. So I made roasted fennel and eggplant and roasted pumpkin soup. Vegetables I do not normally understand!

Obama

Had my class tonight, everyone on the class was cheering for Obama, if there was anyone for Romney, they did not speak up.
During break, everyone was checking to see what was up, and we all got bummed out when early on it looked like Romney was ahead.
But then, what would you expect from masters students in nursing? Naturally we are left wing liberal commies

New Place Photos as Requested!

Allison wanted to see the new place, so here it is. Pretty bare right now, as you can see. Thank heavens my friends got helped me get a mattress before they went, or it would be very uncomfortable! I'm keeping an eye on Craigslist and Freecycle but don't want to spend very much, so will see what I can find. (Bedframe and shelf are my main priorities right now, and maybe a futon in case of guests!) 

Here's the view from the door - got the little table and lamp for $4 each off Craigslist (hall light doesn't seem to work). 

 Bathroom off to the left (perfectly serviceable now that they fixed the shower for me!)

 Sort of walk-in closet thingy off to the right. It is plumbed so clearly used to be bathroom - I think the ground floor used to be one apartment (maybe the whole thing was even one house) and there are some strange features resulting from that.

 Looking at main room from door. There are four windows, so a ton of light. They all have giant wrought-iron bars on them, but lots of light and it looks out on a green area at the back. I haven't managed to hang curtains yet (no ladder, no tools) but luckily they drape pretty well over the iron bars!

 Looking the other way into the kitchen half of the main room.

So yeah, all things considered I think it will work out well. Once I get my blackout curtains hung it will be easier to sleep (keep having anxiety dreams) and hopefully at some point I will source some furniture/figure out how to get it home!

Cat

Well, not much has been going on out of the usual, except that I inherited a cat today.  She belongs to a friend and colleague of mine who has not been well.  He's a retired priest at St. Luke's, and has been having heart trouble for a while.  He's had to go live with his daughter, which meant the cat was alone for weeks in his trailer.  He was getting worried about her, so  I volunteered to look after her.  I'm not sure if this will be permanent!  It all happened fairly suddenly - he was telling me he was worried yesterday, today she moved in.

Her name is Patches,  though she's not much for responding to it.  So far she's just hid under things - the couch being the current favourite.  Though it is close to the heater, so I guess that makes sense.  I think she's a little off balance from the move - it's not easy to be dumped into a strange house with a stranger!  I've got food and water out for her, so we'll see if she relaxes over the next few days.  If she ever comes out, I'll try for a picture.

we're back

Back home from Ontario, in the nick of time. We left Monday at 7 am, Frankenstorm was slated to arrive that night. Ontario did OK with it, but our flight would have been cancelled if we had left much later. Kathy said they had lots of wind and rain, but otherwise fine.

Visit went very well-Richard's parents are really happy with their new home-it is in a corner of the building, so they don't have any people on either side of them and they look out into the common green space-with trees and flowers. His dad has 3 nice garden plots, where they grew tomatoes, beans, and lot of kale, so they are set.

We did quite a bit while there. Went to guelph of course to see Anne's grad and had a good time there. During the week we went to Niagara on the Lake (where I bought a super cute dress!), Toronto-we went to zoo, I went to St Jacob's near Kitchener with the sisters (where I bought another cute skirt and some other assorted odds and ends). It is where a lot of Mennonites live-including the sect that lives almost identically to Amish. Big meat eaters, judging by the amount of meat and dairy at the local market. Also went for hike along Niagara river gorge, lovely with all the colour change. We also visited lots of course and caught up with everyone.

This week at work was busy, busy. we have lots of new staff starting and so I feel like I am trying to keep up with getting them all ready to roll.

When we got home, Mom had water from somewhere in the hallway, by the kitchen and laundry room. Insurance guy came, and it is from pinhole leak in a pipe. Which was good, because if it had been the roof-none of the repairs would be covered! So, they had to pull up all her flooring in kitchen, laundry, and hall, and will also be pulling up all the rest as it was all matching. She will need her wall repaired and they are checking to see if there is asbestos anywhere, and also if water got below cupboards. It is a big job for one tiny little leak. Luckily, she has relatives across the street who can put her up if need be. I do not know how Clem will manage if she also has to relocate here. Our cats would be fine and interested, until Clem tried to gouge their eyes out and take off their heads.

Update: Hallowe'en Surprise

So that tree I posted about? Had a SKELETON in the roots! Went on a Yale tour with Helena's parents and found out this morning. Apparently a homeless woman found it - eek.

The tour guide said the Green used to be a cemetery and that although the headstones were moved out, the graves never were. More here!