I posted Christmas Ideas on Southern Constellations
Happy, Hanna?
Friday, November 9, 2007
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Happy Halloween!
I love Halloween. Maybe it's because I have fond memories of dressing up in hand-made costumes by my mom, or renting costumes from the Capital Theater in Nelson, browsing through racks deciding what I want to be that year. (It's usually something revolving around a princess or fairy...girly and sparkley). This year I didn't dress up, which was sad.
I did however win a pumpkin carving contest, with a coworker. We carved a happy little family of four. Well, perhaps not so happy. One contest we won gift certificates for Tim Hortons, and the other prize is lunch with our Deputy Minister (head honcho). So that will be pretty cool!
I also wrote a poem to go along with it:
Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater,
Had a Wife but couldn't keep her
He developed a taste for the kids one day,
So she took the other one far away.
Oh I am cute. And so are my pumpkins!
So yesterday Joel and I went to get our immunizations for traveling. 4 in all, two shots. Joel went first, he took it like a man, no cringing. Then I hopped up on the bench to have mine, the doctor's back is to Joel who's sitting in a chair, and I'm watching him as she injecting me. I see his eyes glaze over, he mumble "oh no, it's happening", his head tilts back and he looks like a rag doll. The doctor gets the needle out of my arm, jumps over to him, tells me to get a nurse, Joel starts shaking, a nurse comes in, Joel regains consciousness and doesn't know where he is for a few moments, and I just stood there in disbelief. It is a scary thing watching your husband pass out and start convulsing. But they got him laid down, gave him some juice, and we both just went home and rested for the remainder of the afternoon. Our arms are very very sore, but now we're immunized. Hurray!
I did however win a pumpkin carving contest, with a coworker. We carved a happy little family of four. Well, perhaps not so happy. One contest we won gift certificates for Tim Hortons, and the other prize is lunch with our Deputy Minister (head honcho). So that will be pretty cool!
I also wrote a poem to go along with it:
Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater,
Had a Wife but couldn't keep her
He developed a taste for the kids one day,
So she took the other one far away.
Oh I am cute. And so are my pumpkins!
So yesterday Joel and I went to get our immunizations for traveling. 4 in all, two shots. Joel went first, he took it like a man, no cringing. Then I hopped up on the bench to have mine, the doctor's back is to Joel who's sitting in a chair, and I'm watching him as she injecting me. I see his eyes glaze over, he mumble "oh no, it's happening", his head tilts back and he looks like a rag doll. The doctor gets the needle out of my arm, jumps over to him, tells me to get a nurse, Joel starts shaking, a nurse comes in, Joel regains consciousness and doesn't know where he is for a few moments, and I just stood there in disbelief. It is a scary thing watching your husband pass out and start convulsing. But they got him laid down, gave him some juice, and we both just went home and rested for the remainder of the afternoon. Our arms are very very sore, but now we're immunized. Hurray!
Sunday, October 21, 2007
I'm sorry for neglecting.....
I'm sorry... life was a little more chaotic than usual for a bit there.... But I'm here, for now...
So want a run down on the last little bit? I can even include pictures because my darling husband *finally* bought my birthday present (6 months late- but better late than never!)
So where to start?
Work
Crazy. Busy. I was tasked with a project, didn't receive all the relevant information, basically had to do it twice...worked 9 hour days...I'm a gov't employee, and a coop at that- I'm not suppose to work that! Plus, I'm on salary, so I don't get overtime. Oh well. It's done now, and I'm back to more monotonous work :D
Two people in our Branch have left, they found other jobs in government. Now we're two people short... I don't know what will happen. But I might get to move offices, which would be Super!
AND... I'm organizing a Christmas Craft Fair at work! I'm so excited! I have a group of ladies who are willing to help, and know how to organize things in the Ministry. I'm hoping to have at least 15 different sellers, everything from jewelry (of course!), clothing, woodworking, stained glass, baking, canning, ornaments... basically anything handmade! I'm sure it will be a blast! The tentative date is December 3rd.
Only 2 months of my job left! AHHH!! I can't believe how quickly these 6 months have gone by!
Which brings me to:
Travel
Plans are coming along well, mostly because we're going down to South America without much of a plan. :D I'm really looking forward to summer in January, because it's started raining here..icky.
We renewed our passports. Which was a hooopla in itself. They changed the passport process, so your guaranteers don't need to be in a specific profession, they just need to hold a valid passport. WootWoot. To bad I didn't know that before I hunted down my friend's dad who's a doctor.
We didn't want to mail our applications in because that can take upwards of 4 months, and well, we don't have 4 months. So we had to wait in line. So on a Wednesday morning we got up and went downtown to wait in line. We got there at 8. It was too late. Too late! We could have stood in line until 4:30 that afternoon and *maybe* would have gotten in. Joel and I couldn't afford to do that because we needed to go to work. We were told we had to be in line by 7am to get an appointment that day. So the next morning we caught the first bus downtown (*6am*), and got an appointment for 10am. There was already over 50 people in line by 6:30! So it was neat (*NOT*) seeing the sunrise downtown.
But it's done. Well, we don't have them yet, but they're suppose to be coming soon.
And we're slowly but surely saving money. I hope we have enough! (*hint hint* Christmas presents for Jen & Joel!)
Next:
Jewelry
I'm back in full swing with making and selling (see above: Christmas Craft Fair!) Heather, (a friend who makes & sells jewelry with me), and I had a table at Camosun College on Thrusday. I made $170, so not great, but students are broke and not in Christmas shopping mode yet. But we'll be back at Camosun Nov 30 & Dec 7th. And the work craft fair that Monday in between. Heather and I are hoping to bring jewelry to my work next week too.
I'm putting away all the money I make from jewelry sales into the Jen-Fun-Spending-Money-in-S.Am. It's really good incentive for me to make and sell lots! I'm at $230, my goal is $1500... go big or go home (or starve), si?
Whew. It's been busy.
Wanna see new pretty things? (taken with my shiny new camera!)
And that's just a taste of what I've been making. Jewelry has sucked up all my free time, but I like it that way!
I've been uploading new stuff to my etsy site, go check it out and tell your friends to buy stuff!
Hmmm, what else to tell you?
I'm hungry. So I'm going to deal with that.
I'll try to to neglect you like that again!
So want a run down on the last little bit? I can even include pictures because my darling husband *finally* bought my birthday present (6 months late- but better late than never!)
So where to start?
Work
Crazy. Busy. I was tasked with a project, didn't receive all the relevant information, basically had to do it twice...worked 9 hour days...I'm a gov't employee, and a coop at that- I'm not suppose to work that! Plus, I'm on salary, so I don't get overtime. Oh well. It's done now, and I'm back to more monotonous work :D
Two people in our Branch have left, they found other jobs in government. Now we're two people short... I don't know what will happen. But I might get to move offices, which would be Super!
AND... I'm organizing a Christmas Craft Fair at work! I'm so excited! I have a group of ladies who are willing to help, and know how to organize things in the Ministry. I'm hoping to have at least 15 different sellers, everything from jewelry (of course!), clothing, woodworking, stained glass, baking, canning, ornaments... basically anything handmade! I'm sure it will be a blast! The tentative date is December 3rd.
Only 2 months of my job left! AHHH!! I can't believe how quickly these 6 months have gone by!
Which brings me to:
Travel
Plans are coming along well, mostly because we're going down to South America without much of a plan. :D I'm really looking forward to summer in January, because it's started raining here..icky.
We renewed our passports. Which was a hooopla in itself. They changed the passport process, so your guaranteers don't need to be in a specific profession, they just need to hold a valid passport. WootWoot. To bad I didn't know that before I hunted down my friend's dad who's a doctor.
We didn't want to mail our applications in because that can take upwards of 4 months, and well, we don't have 4 months. So we had to wait in line. So on a Wednesday morning we got up and went downtown to wait in line. We got there at 8. It was too late. Too late! We could have stood in line until 4:30 that afternoon and *maybe* would have gotten in. Joel and I couldn't afford to do that because we needed to go to work. We were told we had to be in line by 7am to get an appointment that day. So the next morning we caught the first bus downtown (*6am*), and got an appointment for 10am. There was already over 50 people in line by 6:30! So it was neat (*NOT*) seeing the sunrise downtown.
But it's done. Well, we don't have them yet, but they're suppose to be coming soon.
And we're slowly but surely saving money. I hope we have enough! (*hint hint* Christmas presents for Jen & Joel!)
Next:
Jewelry
I'm back in full swing with making and selling (see above: Christmas Craft Fair!) Heather, (a friend who makes & sells jewelry with me), and I had a table at Camosun College on Thrusday. I made $170, so not great, but students are broke and not in Christmas shopping mode yet. But we'll be back at Camosun Nov 30 & Dec 7th. And the work craft fair that Monday in between. Heather and I are hoping to bring jewelry to my work next week too.
I'm putting away all the money I make from jewelry sales into the Jen-Fun-Spending-Money-in-S.Am. It's really good incentive for me to make and sell lots! I'm at $230, my goal is $1500... go big or go home (or starve), si?
Whew. It's been busy.
Wanna see new pretty things? (taken with my shiny new camera!)
And that's just a taste of what I've been making. Jewelry has sucked up all my free time, but I like it that way!
I've been uploading new stuff to my etsy site, go check it out and tell your friends to buy stuff!
Hmmm, what else to tell you?
I'm hungry. So I'm going to deal with that.
I'll try to to neglect you like that again!
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Whew. What a fun weekend!
Friday night was the Tegan and Sara concert! They rocked out to their new album, The Con, and to their last one, So Jealous. Those girls have voices that send chills through my spine, and it was so intense live!
I slept in Saturday morning until 11:30. Mmm, I loove sleeping in. Then my friend Heather & I went shopping for jewelry supplies. We have a table at the college here booked on October 18th, and then twice more in November. So we have to get all our displays ready, make tons of jewelry, make bags to put peoples jewelry in, etc etc. It's so much work! But really fun!
Then last night was the Current Swell concert! I danced all night long, and a long night it was. I went with Heather, and her roomate Mandy (also a good friend of mine). Oh fun girly times.... I didn't get home until reeaallly late... And then slept in until noon.
Good times.
AAANNNDDD.... I get to go to FOSS4G (Free and Open Source Software for Geospatial). I'm sure that's Greek to most of you- so basically, it's a conference for FREE GIS (Geographic Information System) software. Why is this so important? Because the GIS program I use, ArcGIS, costs around $10,000 for a licence. Which is obviously ridiculous and completely unobtainable for anyone besides governments or corporations who want to use it. GIS is such a useful tool that everyone should be able to use, and not be limited to those who can afford it.
Their websites says The annual Free and Open Source Software for Geospatial (FOSS4G) conference brings together the people who create, use, and support open spatial software. No other event brings together members of the open source development, open data creation, and open standards promotion communities like FOSS4G.
This is going to be an overwhelming and incredible experience. I am so lucky for my work to be paying for this, because the fact is that it's not directly related to my job (because I use that expensive software). This is such an amazing opportunity for me, I'm blown away that it's HERE- in Victoria- this year, because next year it's in South Africa...and I definately won't be going. I just hope that I'm can absorb all the information! The conference is Tuesday until Thursday, so it also means my week will probably just fly by!!
WOOT WOOT!
Friday night was the Tegan and Sara concert! They rocked out to their new album, The Con, and to their last one, So Jealous. Those girls have voices that send chills through my spine, and it was so intense live!
I slept in Saturday morning until 11:30. Mmm, I loove sleeping in. Then my friend Heather & I went shopping for jewelry supplies. We have a table at the college here booked on October 18th, and then twice more in November. So we have to get all our displays ready, make tons of jewelry, make bags to put peoples jewelry in, etc etc. It's so much work! But really fun!
Then last night was the Current Swell concert! I danced all night long, and a long night it was. I went with Heather, and her roomate Mandy (also a good friend of mine). Oh fun girly times.... I didn't get home until reeaallly late... And then slept in until noon.
Good times.
AAANNNDDD.... I get to go to FOSS4G (Free and Open Source Software for Geospatial). I'm sure that's Greek to most of you- so basically, it's a conference for FREE GIS (Geographic Information System) software. Why is this so important? Because the GIS program I use, ArcGIS, costs around $10,000 for a licence. Which is obviously ridiculous and completely unobtainable for anyone besides governments or corporations who want to use it. GIS is such a useful tool that everyone should be able to use, and not be limited to those who can afford it.
Their websites says The annual Free and Open Source Software for Geospatial (FOSS4G) conference brings together the people who create, use, and support open spatial software. No other event brings together members of the open source development, open data creation, and open standards promotion communities like FOSS4G.
This is going to be an overwhelming and incredible experience. I am so lucky for my work to be paying for this, because the fact is that it's not directly related to my job (because I use that expensive software). This is such an amazing opportunity for me, I'm blown away that it's HERE- in Victoria- this year, because next year it's in South Africa...and I definately won't be going. I just hope that I'm can absorb all the information! The conference is Tuesday until Thursday, so it also means my week will probably just fly by!!
WOOT WOOT!
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Run Update
Sorry for the abundance of posts this week! Wait, I take that back- no I'm not sorry.
Anyways, just thought I'd give you a quick update on the run status. So Tuesday's 4.2km was done in 40 minutes, and was around 1/3 walking. I was okay afterwards, but definitely sore the next morning. On lunch yesterday I figured the only way to stretch things out was to go for a smaller jog and do a good stretch. So yesterdays quickie was a solo 2km(ish) on my half hour lunch.
But Today was great! The woman, L, who I was with on Tuesday ran again today, joined by a guy D (who's went to school in Castlegar, coincidentally), and he's super fit. So L & I had to keep up, and we did 4.2km in 23 minutes.
Maybe I will be able to do the 8km in less than an hour!!
Who knew that exercising felt so good?
Anyways, just thought I'd give you a quick update on the run status. So Tuesday's 4.2km was done in 40 minutes, and was around 1/3 walking. I was okay afterwards, but definitely sore the next morning. On lunch yesterday I figured the only way to stretch things out was to go for a smaller jog and do a good stretch. So yesterdays quickie was a solo 2km(ish) on my half hour lunch.
But Today was great! The woman, L, who I was with on Tuesday ran again today, joined by a guy D (who's went to school in Castlegar, coincidentally), and he's super fit. So L & I had to keep up, and we did 4.2km in 23 minutes.
Maybe I will be able to do the 8km in less than an hour!!
Who knew that exercising felt so good?
Cardboard Kitty Chair!
Wow! I found this cardboard kitty chair at Treehugger and I'm pretty impressed. Hmmm, I wonder if George or Leilu would like it??
Don't worry, the adhesive is non-toxic. But I have to wonder if there'd be little cardboard scraps scattered everywhere??
But I suppose that can't be any worse than wooden stair post slivers all over the hallway....
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Budget Slashing
Anyone who's watched the news in Canada in the last 24 hours will have heard the sad news. The Conservative Government has cut Environment Canada's budget- big time. Am I surprised? No. Saddened? Yes. Frustrated? Extremely.
The damage?
The Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Network (the group that monitors ecosystem change): 80% cut
The Migratory Bird Program: 50% cut
National Wildlife Areas (think significant habitats for wildlife and birds): 100% cut
CBC tried to get in contact with John Baird (see my Inadequate People post) but apparently he was not available, and email messages have been sent saying the government is focusing on Climate Change so other areas were sacrificed.
AHH! When will this become apparent to the people in charge that you cannot focus on one while sacrificing the other! Our remaining intact ecosystems is what's saving our world from the point of no return. These natural areas play a significant role (think oxygen production for you to BREATHE!)
I found a study on protecting ecosystems for anyone how's interested: here. This map was in the study:
I have to wonder why, in Canada, the land of plenty, we have so little protected area? Is it because we think everything is so plentiful that we don't need to protect it?
I just have a hard time swallowing the fact that we make these decisions which have huge repercussions on the environment (and inadvertently on us). This world is not ours to use until it's gone, we cannot build suburbs of McMansions onto fragile ecosystems. We are here as stewards of the Earth, it is a gift to us, please don't break it.
The damage?
CBC tried to get in contact with John Baird (see my Inadequate People post) but apparently he was not available, and email messages have been sent saying the government is focusing on Climate Change so other areas were sacrificed.
AHH! When will this become apparent to the people in charge that you cannot focus on one while sacrificing the other! Our remaining intact ecosystems is what's saving our world from the point of no return. These natural areas play a significant role (think oxygen production for you to BREATHE!)
I found a study on protecting ecosystems for anyone how's interested: here. This map was in the study:
I have to wonder why, in Canada, the land of plenty, we have so little protected area? Is it because we think everything is so plentiful that we don't need to protect it?
I just have a hard time swallowing the fact that we make these decisions which have huge repercussions on the environment (and inadvertently on us). This world is not ours to use until it's gone, we cannot build suburbs of McMansions onto fragile ecosystems. We are here as stewards of the Earth, it is a gift to us, please don't break it.
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