Hi, Emily!

Time Flies

2012-02-15T17:58:00.000-08:00

... when you're having fun. Also, when you spend half of last week home sick. Let me tell you, I am rarely so pleased to be at work on a Thursday as I was last week - just being out of the house was that great.

The past week has been great for learning opportunities for me. I attended the CLA Government Library & Info Pro IM Learning Fair yesterday, and got to talk to some really interested - and interesting - people about ARMA-NCR. I also got to find out more about what other associations have been up to. I'm so glad that ARMA-NCR is working more and more with other associations in the area - building these relationships has been a pet enthusiasm of mine since I joined the board. While we may be talking to the same audience, we're all bringing different ideas and perspectives to the table, so we can easily collaborate - and we're definitely not competitors. So yeah - working with other associations to contribute to and build the RIM community in the National Capital Region is awesome! Plus, I get to meet so many great people.

Speaking of great people, I attended a talk by Ron Surette (CIO at Library and Archives Canada) on digital preservation this morning, organized by AIIM. I thought it was really interesting - and was introduced to the concept of a wicked problem

Not that kind of wicked

- "a problem that is difficult or impossible to solve because of incomplete, contradictory, and changing requirements that are often difficult to recognize. Moreover, because of complex interdependencies, the effort to solve one aspect of a wicked problem may reveal or create other problems" (definitely check out the Wikipedia article I linked to for more info. It's fascinating!).

So yeah. There's been lots of other learning, too, but those two events are top of mind for me right now. I really love attending these kinds of events - the networking and learning is awesome.

What I Learned From Library Day In The Life #8

2012-02-06T16:50:00.000-08:00

So, I've thought a bit about participating in Library Day in the Life 8, and I think I got a lot out of it. For one, my productivity was higher than it otherwise could have been - I've been known to procrastinate, especially when faced with what feels like a lot of work. So feeling like the Internet is watching was good for me - I actually got lots done last week. One of my fave ways to get stuff done when I'm procrastinating is to set a timer (usually for an hour), and tell myself that I'm going to do focused work for that time. It makes things seem much more manageable (it's "work hard for an hour" not "finish this intimidating problem"), and it helps me get things done. I employed that tactic several times last week, and I think I might use it more.

It was also interesting to go back and look at what I did with my days. I seem to do a lot of administrivia - I'm going to have to take a look at what those things are, and how I can cut down on them.

Note to self: Avoid

I plan on reading a lot more Library Day in the Life posts from others when I've got a chance - but this was definitely a useful exercise from a self-analysis point of view, and I'm happy with it. I would definitely do it again.

Library Day In the Life: Day 5

2012-02-04T04:35:00.000-08:00

Hi, I'm Emily, and I'm the Acting Manager, Licensing and Access Services, for Natural Resources Canada in Ottawa, Ontario. Today, I...

Woke up with a really fuzzy head & stuffy-feeling ears. I've been battling this nagging sinus nonsense pretty much all week. Considered calling in sick, but I've got a ref desk shift this afternoon. Luckily it should be an easy day...

8:30 - 1:00: Come in, chat with staff, answer emails, financial stuff related to procurement, finish a "Weeding Cheat Sheet" type document and sent to colleagues for their input, set up a meeting to discuss procedures for catalogue changes due to weeding, start planning for next week, lunch, more emails. Send the draft Collection Management Policy to all library staff - hurray! Hoping for some good feedback/suggestions from my colleagues.

1:00 - 3:00: Ref desk! This afternoon I'm at 580. Help a few clients, page through some trade journals that look interesting, replenish some supplies - pretty standard.

580 ref desk from entrance to library

Reference/meeting area

Looking down the hall of high-density shelving. Stacks to left and right. Sunny reading and working areas along the back wall.

3:00: My sinuses still hurt. A lot. I give up - send a message to my boss and head home to try to sleep it off.

Have a great weekend!

Library Day In the Life: Day 4

2012-02-03T05:55:00.000-08:00

Hi, I'm Emily, and I'm the Acting Manager, Licensing and Access Services, for Natural Resources Canada in Ottawa, Ontario. Today, I...

Today, I'm pretty sure things will be less busy than Tuesday and Wednesday. Thank goodness!

8:30 - 9:55: Settle in, check my emails, chat with a client, chat with a staff member, head to our Earth Sciences Library for a ref desk shift.

10:00 - 12:00: Ref desk! I've got on 2-hour shift per week at this library (I'm working ref desk hours even though I'm in a manager job right now, just because we're short on staff), and I like being over here. Fun fact: There are LOC and Cutter classified books here. One of our other locations has LOC, Cutter, and Dewey! This is what happens when your libraries are really old... (The Geological Survey of Canada, started it all, was founded in 1842).

Ref desk - from the library entrance

Ref desk to the right, work areas in front

Another angle on the ref desk

Looking down the hall of stacks - high-density shelving on left and right

12:05 - 1:00: Lunch, derp around on the personal side of the internet, administrivia until our All Staff meeting at 1.

1:00 - 3:00: All Staff meeting! It goes really well - one of the most controversial things was the weeding project I'm working on, but even that generated some good discussion. I think we're going to have to do more of these.

3:00 - 5:00: Procurement, contracts, invoicing, planning.

5:00 - 8:00: ARMA-NCR Board meeting. First board meeting for our two new board members - it was great to see them! Had some awesome conversations; am looking forward to seeing what's in store for our Chapter. We've got some great plans, and are building some awesome relationships!

Library Day In the Life: Day 3, Part 2

2012-02-01T14:46:00.000-08:00

Continuing my Wednesday adventures, for the rest of the day I have...

12:35 - 1:00: Derp around with some administrivia. Find out that the donation assessment stuff is basically settled. Excellent.

1:00 - 1:45: Meet with staff who have flex days to work our a system whereby not everyone is out of the office on the same day. Come up with some great, varied solutions - one staff member moved her flex day off of Monday, one said we could call her in case of emergency, all agreed that if they reschedule a flex day, it won't be moved to a Friday or a Monday. We also came up with a strategy that minimizes library closures in the case that everyone is away on the same day. We're almost to the point where flex days are operationally impossible, but we're not there yet, and quite frankly, I'd like to keep flex days as an option for staff - they cut down on sick days, for one thing.

After the meeting, I had a quick chat with our Systems librarian about serials control and management, and we agreed that we're going to have to assess the level of serials control we apply, seeing as full holdings maintenance is a lot of work, and we're not sure whether the ROI is there. One option might be to only do summary holdings for subscriptions where we have both print and internet access... but that's just a thought at this point.

1:45 - 3:00: I'm on the ref desk this afternoon! Get a call from an external client, do some calling around to find the right person's contact information. I maintain that one of my most useful skills as a librarian is my willingness to pick a likely person from an org chart, call them, and say "Hi! You might not be the right person for me to talk to, but I'm hoping you can help!" (Note that this is different from "You're the first person whose name came up in GEDS. Do this thing for me which is totally outside of your job description because I can't be bothered to look any further, and no I do not want the name of the person whose job that is." I've been on the receiving end of calls like that from other librarians, and let me tell you - frustration city!)

3:00 - 5:45: Work on various administrivia. Update our Chief on the proposed solution regarding flex days. Chat with a staff member about an HR issue that has diffused very nicely. Contract procurement. Subscription management. Contract procurement. Fret about my headache and hope very hard that it's not a cold. Start thinking about what I need to do tomorrow. Start working on a spreadsheet for my awesome Finance admin person detailing subscriptions that we procured on behalf of specific client groups, for which we need to do cost recovery. Listen to The Decemberists (The King Is Dead) while I do it - I really love Calamity Song. Get a call from a regional colleague with more history/better knowledge of our Taylor and Francis file than I have; she's offering to sort it all out, and keep me in the loop. Yes please and thank you. So many of my colleagues really, really rock. I'm new in this position, so it's great to have someone offer to step in and lend a hand every once in a while! I usually ask for help when I need it, but it's nice to have it offered, too.

Husband arrives, and I'm out!

Library Day In the Life: Day 3, Part 1

2012-02-01T09:06:00.000-08:00

Hi, I'm Emily, and I'm the Acting Manager, Licensing and Access Services, for Natural Resources Canada in Ottawa, Ontario. Today, I...

(As an aside, yesterday my husband asked me if I thought there was an issue with taking work time to blog about how busy my day had been. I don't think so, for a couple of reasons. A) I needed a bit of a break. I could have gone for a walk, but I blogged instead. B) My colleagues and I discuss our library and how we do things with other librarians/students/interested parties on a regular basis. Our Chief fully supports us giving tours, presentations, and demonstrations to librarians who are interested in how we do things - so Library Day In The Life is consistent with our efforts to share our approach with others.)

8:30 - 11:30: Good morning! I'm thinking that there can't possibly be more emergencies to deal with today - got them all out of the way yesterday. No voicemails this morning, no urgent emails - looks good!

Poke around the Internet to see what's happening while nursing my tea.
Get the news that a contract employee working with our Information Management colleagues is here, and since we get her one day a week, and they're not set up for her, they want to know whether we can keep her busy. Heck yes! P has worked with us before, and she's great - I send her to our Map library to go shelve maps. The subject specialist sounds pretty excited. I need to touch base with our Manager of Technical Services to see if she can use P's help - they're super busy, could really use an extra set of hands.
Prep for the RLM meeting later this morning. I feel good about it.
Get an email from our Chief saying that she likes the draft Collection ~~Development~~ Management Policy that I sent her. Hurray! Now I shall start circulating amongst colleagues for more revision/input.
Email our Systems Librarian about a meeting we need to have with our Techs who do Serials Management. The Evergreen Serials Module apparently isn't ready to go, but our previous system has been taken offline - what to do, what do to...
Remember that it is February 1st! Change my desktop wallpaper to this one (without the calendar). I really like Smashing Magazine's monthly wallpapers. I was tempted to go with a Valentine's Day-ish one, but thought the "Be Bold and Venture to Be Wise" message was a good one!
Review a US Memo on Facilitating Scientific Research by Streamlining the Paperwork Reduction Act Process that was shared with me by our Regional Libraries Coordinator. She suggested it would be useful to my thinking about collection management at NRCan - she likes the tone, and suggests we need to be very specific about collections that are not mission critical. We maintain a lot of information that is no longer directly relevant to our core mandate (because the department's activities have changed over time), and we also manage a lot of collections on behalf of industry/associations, etc. In order for our collections to remain relevant and useful, we need to re-examine their content, and I agree that the approach embodied in said Memo could be useful. Hurray for sharing!
Contracting & procurement joy, and other varia.

11:30 - 12:00: Regional Library Managers meeting, which took place via teleconference. I spoke to them about actions required in order to go forward with the collection management work we need to undertake, and another colleague spoke about work on a national reference service model. The meeting went really well, and there were some great suggestions from my colleagues in the regions. I really like speaking to my regional counterparts, because it helps me understand what is going on outside of our little Ottawa-bubble. Their reality is quite different from mine (I think...), and it is very interesting to hear what they're up to, and their thoughts and observations.

12:00 - 12:05: Donation assessment stuff. I'm going to look into it after lunch.

12:05 - 12:35: Lunch!

Library Day In the Life: Day 2, Part 2

2012-01-31T17:40:00.000-08:00

Phew!
So, for the rest of today, I have...
11:10 - 12:30 Check Hootsuite to see what people have been talking about & read some articles that seem relevant (this one about the Elsevier boycott shared by @mrlibrarydude catches my eye, as we rely heavily on ScienceDirect and Scopus). Talk to my colleague about the flex day issue. More phone calls about licensing issues (and voice mails). Start to prep for the Regional Library Managers meeting tomorrow - I have 10 minutes to ask them to a couple of things for a new weeding project that the library will be undertaking. Start looking into how some recent donations have been evaluated. Start prepping for an upcoming All Staff meeting for staff in Ottawa.
12:30-1:00: Lunchtime, and I need a break. Eat lunch, catch up on my Google Reader stuff.
1:00 - 1:30: Realize I left my notebook with my prepwork for IM Battledecks either at home or in the car. Curse. Start trying to remember what I had come up with. Recreate my notes. Grab some taxi chits. Start to get nervous. Head out.
1:30-4:00: Arrive, meet & mingle with other presenters. Chat with some people I know. Get started - I'm going second. IM Battledecks was a blast - talked about the theme of IM in Turbulent Times for 7 minutes, addressing a slide deck I've never seen before that advanced automatically. Glad I thought about some stuff beforehand, but there was NO WAY I could have stuck to a script. I would totally participate again, or attend another Battledecks event. We had just over 40 people there (including a couple of my friends, one of whom brought me a VERY welcome Earl Grey Tea Latte - it felt great to have some familiar, friendly faces in the crowd), which is great turnout because the weather is pretty yucky out. My debate training, improv skills, and knowledge all kick in, and I end up winning (kindof gratifying as the youngest one there - I was pretty intimidated when I was asked to participate)! Took home a nice bottle of wine. Thanks so much to CLA Government Library and IM Professionals Network for putting on the event!

Setting the stage...

The awesome crowd right before my speech

All 5 presenters post-battle (note victory bottle in my hand)

4:00 - 5:10: Back at the office. No voice mails, hurray! Huge list of emails, boo! Contact clients with waaay overdue ILLs and ask them to return them; get a call from the guy involved with ASM and clarify the issues (yay!), look into the issue about recent donations, and why they were discarded. Agree with my staff member. Send email to that effect.

WOW. Today was quite the day. The jumping around putting out various fires coupled with the adrenaline rush of IM Battledecks has left me spent. Here's hoping tomorrow is less crazy!

Library Day In the Life: Day 2, Part 1

2012-01-31T08:08:00.000-08:00

Hi, I'm Emily, and I'm the Acting Manager, Licensing and Access Services, for Natural Resources Canada in Ottawa, Ontario. Today, I...

8:35 - 10:45: Got in to work a bit late after a slow drive in. Chat with a member of the Access Team* about a bit of an issue that occurred yesterday - a perfect storm of people being off on their flex days and a sick librarian lead to some consternation, and the temporary closure of one of our library locations.** Apparently the Chief Librarian sent an email about it, and I and another manager have been asked to come up with a solution. The main problem is that too many people have their flex day on the same day. Finish settling in and check my voice mail while my computer boots.*** 2 voice mails: One referring to an email that I haven't seen yet, another inviting me to talk about weeding at the Regional Library Managers meeting on Wednesday. Okay - note to self, prep for that meeting.

I check my email and suppress a scream. Apparently, yesterday was a bad day to be out of the office. Start triaging the issues in order of urgency. Check my calendar: Thank goodness, nothing on there until I need to head out to IM Battledecks. I've got some time to put out some fires.

Most urgent are procurement requests, what with fiscal year end coming up. I work on files for subscriptions to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, GeoScienceWorld, RefWorks, ASM (ASM isn't mine - but someone did ask me a question about it, and now he thinks I'm in charge of it. Nope! The person who is in charge is the one who left the first voice mail, so I leave HER a voice mail to try to sort things out, so I know what to tell HIM. Ick, what a mess), Daily Oil Bulletin, Plant Disease, International Journal of Remote Sensing and Remote Sensing Letters. I email Public Works and Government Services Canada to get them involved where that's required.

I also set up a meeting to talk about flex days, and call another member of the Access Services Team about an HR thing.

10:45 - 11:10: Write this! Initially got way more into detail, but it was turning into a (boring) novel, so I edited, too. Now to look at my to-do list and figure out what needs my attention next...

*I currently manage our Access Services Team. I've got 5 awesome library techs who do Inter-Library Loans, Circulation, Shelving, Document Delivery, Serials Control, and other info-access type work.
** Our library system has 13 branches across Canada, and 4 on the NRCan campus on Booth Street in Ottawa. This means staff at 4 libraries - and 4 reference desks to staff. Coupled with some serious staffing challenges, it's been pretty challenging to staff those desks lately.
*** I hate voice mail. Usually, no one calls me unless there is a problem - so my stomach knots as soon as I see that blinking light. Ugh.

Library Day In the Life: Day 1

2012-01-30T14:16:00.000-08:00

So, I've decided to sign up for Library Day in the Life, Round 8. This is a project where (surprise!) people who work in libraries document their day, so you can see what a librarian's day is like. There are lots of different librarians who are doing this, and I saw a lot of blog posts/tweets about it last time, so I thought I'd contribute this time around.

(I may also be hoping that it will help me focus, because I expect that this week may be a bit frenetic.)

And now, on to the good stuff!

Hi, I'm Emily, and I'm the Acting Manager, Licensing and Access Services, for Natural Resources Canada in Ottawa, Ontario. Today, I...

8:00 - 11:00: Taught my Records, Information, and Archives Management class at Algonquin College. Today, after a bit of in-class stuff, we had a field trip to the city's ShredIt/Securit facility, and it was cool. We got to see their huge shredder, the bales of paper they make from shredded stuff (and the difference in standard and secret shredding), their records storage facility, and their media vault. I think this helped make some of those records management tasks much more concrete for the students - and they asked great questions. I was really proud of them!

No phones allowed in the facility, so this is the only photo I have.

11am - 3:20: Headed to Library and Archives Canada for the second half of a day long information session on the Recordkeeping Methodology. Had a great lunch (brought it from home) while reading Diamond Age on my Nook, got to see some colleagues and acquaintances, and chatted with the Past-President and Director of Technology of ARMA-NCR, of which I am the current president. Oh yeah, and learned some stuff too. I'm going to need to find time to check out the documents and tools they were presenting and discussing today - I'm pretty sure it is posted to GCPEDIA. Meeting got out 20 minutes early (yay!) so I headed home early, too.

4:00 - 4:30: Get home, spend half an hour brainstorming about IM Battledecks. It's tomorrow, and I'm a little nervous about it. I've got three general ideas (with points for each! My training as a university debater is coming in quite handy as I prep my case...), so I think I should be able to have something different to say, even if I'm not going first.

I'm doing "PowerPoint Karaoke" at the end of the month...

2012-01-17T06:23:00.000-08:00

I've been invited to participate in an event called IM Battledecks:“Imagining the Future: Information Management in Turbulent Times.”

I'm excited, but also intimidated. I think it is a lot of fun, but am feeling some pressure to do well - eee!

More info: http://clagov.wordpress.com/2012/01/16/im-battledecks/

Still Alive

2012-01-12T10:52:00.000-08:00

Ah, ah, ah, ah...

And plan on staying that way! I hope you had a lovely holiday season, and that 2012 is treating you well thus far! It's been okay for me - a bit tough to get back into the swing of things, but I think I've got it now. Teaching at Algonquin College again this semester should be good (even if it is at 8am on Monday - ick), and work, while stressful (pretty much everyone is quietly freaking out about what might happen with cuts coming from the Deficit Reduction Action Plan and other reviews), is still okay - it helps that I've got good coworkers.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T19:55:00.001-08:00

Hope you are all safe, happy, and warm with loved ones!

Running in a Winter Wonderland

2011-12-24T00:10:00.000-08:00

I needed to go for a run yesterday (can't believe how quickly the Resolution Run is coming up!), and got it in late morning, by work. It was gorgeous out - like, breathtaking. Plus, this was my first run on snow, and it made me feel pretty badass. Seriously though, I feel like it has been forever since the sun shone that bright - at some points, I was running with a big grin on my face, I was just enjoying myself so much. Check it out!

This is what fresh snow is for, right?

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

2011-12-23T14:34:00.000-08:00

It is amazing how a little snow can really put you in the holiday spirit! This was the playground outside our place this morning:

My plan for tomorrow is to show you the amazing pics from my snowy run today! (Also, we're travelling, so not sure what posting is going to be like for the next little bit...)

Ice

2011-12-22T15:15:00.000-08:00

In honour of the freezing rain we got yesterday, I picked a pic of what could have been... which is perhaps all the more lovely because it's not something that we have to deal with.

Present Under The Tree!

2011-12-21T18:29:00.000-08:00

My Mom sent us an early Christmas gift, with express instructions to open it. Hubbub insisted that it take a turn under the tree first though...

I spy a sparkly present...

It's a lovely First Married Christmas ornament!

It looks perfect next to our engagement ornament...

Like they belong together!

Thanks, Mom!

So dreamy

2011-12-20T17:52:00.001-08:00

*Swoon*

Baby!

2011-12-19T16:42:00.000-08:00

So, the visit this past weekend - it was great. Great to meet my nearly-nephew Ross, great to see my friend C and her hubby. C and I went to dinner on Saturday, and then both went to bed early (her because she expected Ross to be up to eat at midnight, me because "I haven't been getting enough sleep lately" - to her credit, the new mother just chuckled at me).

Sunday was a busy day. We went to church, and then brunch (mmm, Cora's), and then to the gym...


Baby workout. Looks like a LOT of fun to me!

After some tummy time, Ross was wiped, so I got to put him in his swing, and read him a story while he fell asleep.

Hand, Hand, Finger, Thumb. Dr. Seuss is awesome.

This kid is hilarious. He's super alert for a 6-week old, but is clearly keeping an eye on everything, and I don't think he's sure what to think of this big bright world. Don't worry kid, we'll help you figure it out.

Let it snow...

2011-12-18T18:28:00.000-08:00

PLEASE????
I'd love to go down to Parliament and see it looking like this:

Apparently right now it looks something like this:

Which, while still lovely, is just not the same.

By the way, no posts Friday or Saturday because we got together with friends on Friday evening, and then visited friends in Toronto this weekend. Photos to come, but let me just give you a head's up: my nearly nephew is a total ball of cute. If ever you wanted to self-induce some baby rabies, visiting a delightful infant is totally the way to do it.

SQUEEE!

2011-12-15T17:29:00.000-08:00

It is pure cuteness covered in snow - this is supposed to be a holiday season thing, right? Right. He's a Japanese dwarf flying squirrel, and also adorable.

I just - can't - even...

For more along these lines, see Reddit's r/aww subreddit. Seriously.

More Hawai'i

2011-12-14T17:23:00.000-08:00

So I could totally just cheat and show you honeymoon pictures for the rest of the month - coz Hawai'i is AMAZING. Our photos totally don't even do it justice. Today, I shall share my have beach on Big Island (and tied for first place with Blowhole Beach on Oahu). The swimming here was fantastic, and the beach was just amazing. Still hard to believe that a) places like this exist outside of photoshop and b) that I've been there!

Honu

2011-12-13T17:21:00.000-08:00

Honu is the Hawaiian word for green sea turtles. They're awesome. We saw them on two different beaches on the Big Island, and they were definitely one of (if not the) highlights of the trip for me.


See? He's just chillin'

You can get pretty close to them, but you're not supposed to get too close - you're supposed to show them aloha, and let them nap.

Farther away than I look, but pretty darn close.

And sometimes they do awesome things, like cuddling.

These ones may have been my faves.

This is not my first glass of wine this evening

2011-12-12T19:24:00.001-08:00

But it sure is pretty

Gorgeous Sunday Run

2011-12-11T19:31:00.000-08:00

Today's Sunday run was the longest on our training schedule for the resolution run - 7 miles, which is 11.2km. We ended up going 11.8km (and walking 1.5km back to the start coz we were winging it!), but had some lovely scenery on the way, including Hog's Back falls. Check out the icicles on the rock faces!

Photo courtesy of Running Buddy's phone.

Christmas is a Magical Time

2011-12-10T18:13:00.000-08:00

Doubly so if you live in Japan. (Special thanks to hubbub for showing me this!)

Pure potential

2011-12-10T18:10:00.000-08:00

(Argh, I had this ready to go yesterday, and it failed to publish from my phone.)

...Is an empty stage

At the Bell Centre last night

Hubbub and I headed to Montreal to see Neko Case and the National. The show was great. Not the venue I would choose, but I'm so glad we went. Surprise guest appearances from Arcade Fire and a thousand-strong sing-along + The National = awesome good time.

A Different Kind of Beautiful

2011-12-08T17:25:00.000-08:00

If you haven't seen this video, prepare for tears... it's the video of a woman who was born deaf hearing herself for the first time, courtesy of a fancy hearing implant. So cool. Very moving.

Flashback to Summer

2011-12-07T15:35:00.000-08:00

It's a chilly day out, so I thought I'd share something from earlier this summer, when it was warm and lovely. I meant to share this at the time, but am pretty sure I didn't. The hubbub and I went to see the Sound and Light Show at Parliament Hill this summer with my friend Alice, and it was great. And free! I highly recommend, and look forward to going again next summer. Anyways, here's a pic of the Parliament (Centre Block), all dressed up - which reminds me that I'm going to need to go check out this year's Christmas decorations!

Looks like stained glass. Breathtaking.

Librarian Hey Girl

2011-12-06T16:15:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I've really enjoyed the Ryan Gosling Hey Girl meme, but it just hit close to home - go check this out! There's a whole Tumblr of them!

Lovely Owl

2011-12-05T15:41:00.000-08:00

Have you seen this yet? Because it is absolutely adorable. He's the kitten of the owl world - makes me want to get an owl just so I can pet him. (Not so keen on the owl pellets though - I suspect that those are less than attractive.)

(Via Pink India Inkblotter and Skepchick)

Tradition

2011-12-04T19:07:00.000-08:00

Ladies and gentlemen, tonight marked the first (but certainly not the last) instance of my holiday baking! Yum, folks. I decided to try my hand at Peggy's Christmas Loaf. Peggy is my mom's awesome neighbor, and for years she's been bringing over a loaf of this delicious bread at Christmas. It has almonds and fruit in it, but bears no resemblance to fruit cake, in case you were worried. At my bridal shower, she passed on the recipe - perfect timing, too, coz we won't be in Windsor this season. I can't wait to try them (not tonight though)... they've got this amazing lemon-sugar glaze on them. Ooommnomnomnom.

Hello loaves, I am so happy to see you!

Days 2 and 3

2011-12-03T18:44:00.000-08:00

For the record, I tried to post this yesterday from my phone, but the post failed. Ah well, such is life. Anyways, yesterday we were at the hubbub's work Christmas party, and they had a ginormous tree (which smelled lovely) - it was so pretty!

Today we put up our own tree - and it may not be as impressive (or smell as nice), but I think it is pretty all the same.

Yes, our Christmas tree wears a Mother Russia hat.

Plus, a while ago we started bringing home ornaments from our trips, and they bring up lovely memories - like this Chinese dragon we got in San Fransisco!

Gorgeous December

2011-12-01T04:42:00.000-08:00

No, I'm not talking about what I see when I look out the window - it's grey and drab out there.
BUT, a friend said she enjoyed the Thankful November series, and thought I should have a theme for December too - she suggested "things I find aesthetically pleasing" for the Season of Lights.
I think that this is a great idea - hence, Gorgeous December!

We're going to start with an image that was shared on Reddit. An image of such heart-stopping cuteness that I made it my desktop... and then cleared off a whole bunch of icons so that I could actually see it. Without further delay, I present to you - spooning squirrels.

Still makes me squee every time I see them.

Last one!

2011-11-30T19:31:00.000-08:00

So, I've been thinking about today, and what I'm thankful for - and I could go the frivolous route (a body shop that gave us a great deal and did a great job on fixing our car roof from the major scratches we put in it this summer while transporting kayaks) or "deep" (the chance to really reflect on all of the things that are good in my life), but I'm just going to go with what has stood out for me today: friends.

A friend gave us a lift this morning so we could pick up the car. I had a lovely working lunch with a friend who is also a colleague, and colleagues who are becoming friends. Got an email from a friend who received an unexpected postcard from me, and liked it. Went out to a movie with a friend; went to visit my sister who is also my friend (this wasn't always the case. We like it better this way), and came home to my best friend.

I'm thankful for my friends. (In case you couldn't tell...)

Cold & Rainy

2011-11-29T16:52:00.000-08:00

As I walked home from the gym in the pouring rain, and splashed my way through many large puddles, I was VERY glad that hubbub and I have a safe, warm, cozy home to live in.

Checking in early!

2011-11-28T08:36:00.000-08:00

Coz today I got a fantastic email from my sister, who asked how I would feel about us siblings not exchanging gifts this year.

Let me recap for you: Hubbub's family doesn't exchange presents. My extended family usually draws names for a Kris Kringle (so everyone buys ONE present - we've got a big family), but we're all travelling to Minnesota this year for Christmas, so we decided not to exchange gifts. Hubbub and I decided not to get each other presents - those plane tickets were expensive! My friends and I agreed years ago not to exchange gifts.

Which means I need to buy for two people: My mother, and my Redditgifts Secret Santa person.

And while I like giving gifts, I am sooooo glad that I have zero holiday shopping stress, expenses, etc. Whee!

This is me! And I'm loving it.

Today

2011-11-27T18:13:00.001-08:00

I'm thankful to have had the chance to support local businesses at the Landsdowne Christmas market. I have a thing for farmers' markets, and going made me quite happy. Plus, we picked up some kale, which I've been looking forward to trying for quite a while! (A whole bunch of bloggers I read have been going on about kale chips... Onto the bandwagon I go!)

I'm late! I'm late!

2011-11-27T08:17:00.000-08:00

I feel like the white rabbit! I was very thankful on Friday for hubbub, who stepped up and made dinner & otherwise took care of stuff when I was feeling wiped and kinda sick (good news: I've gotten a lot of sleep this weekend and am feeling much better).

And yesterday, I was thankful for having a great day - relaxed, but still accomplishful. And I got a whole bunch of those nagging don't-take-long-but-wasn't-getting-around-to-them tasks, which I'm very happy about.

November 24th

2011-11-24T18:04:00.000-08:00

HOT. RUNNING. WATER.

Hands down, what I'm thankful for today. Possibly the best part of running when it is cold out is the hot shower afterwards.... man does it feel good on cold toes and such.

Also, fun anecdote! When running buddy and I were out for our run this evening, this ginormous flock of geese flew over (off to the side, so they presented no immediate danger of... debris) and they were super loud, and it was really cool! Nature is neat.

Two at once... Again

2011-11-23T08:20:00.001-08:00

Yesterday, I was thankful for all my running gear. Had a great tempo run!

Today I'm so thankful for my awesome team running the IM days conference with me - they're fantastic!

Thankful for...

2011-11-21T16:55:00.001-08:00

Productive Mondays! And little ones going home from the hospital, all better.

It's been a good day.

Two at once!

2011-11-20T18:20:00.001-08:00

So, yesterday I was thankful for all of the delicious food to be found in Stowe. And then I was thankful for the fancy gym at the hotel.

Today I'm thankful for modern medicine, and sending positive vibes to a dear friend with a sick little one. Hoping it is nothing the antibiotics can't beat!

Oh man

2011-11-18T17:45:00.001-08:00

I'm already totally confident that I am *very* thankful for romantic long weekends away.

Today

2011-11-17T20:25:00.001-08:00

I am really glad that I'm a librarian. I love being in a helping profession
n, and when you can create one of those "I love librarians" moments - when you can just see it on your client's face - well, that is just awesome.

Thankful

2011-11-16T19:20:00.001-08:00

For all the birthday love I received today. It was awesome! I feel very special.

Thankful for...

2011-11-15T17:47:00.000-08:00

Surgical vision correction! Today was my three-month checkup, and my eyes are great. My right eye ROCKED the exam - breezed through the bonus line no problem. My left eye didn't do so well on the bonus line... slacker.

Straighten up, left eyeball, or forever be subject to the look of disapproval

Thankful

2011-11-14T17:22:00.000-08:00

That tomorrow is a new day. I hit a WALL this afternoon, and I'm exhausted. Done with today! But it is worth remembering that tomorrow is a new, different day, when I'm feeling this way.

Also, thankful for my super comfy bed. VERY much looking forward to a good night's sleep tonight.

Thankful

2011-11-13T19:01:00.000-08:00

for awesome friends. Went to a show last night with possibly my friend with the best musical taste ( Cuff the Duke; Hooded Fang opened. Great show! It didn't end until 1am, so that totally counts as a today thing), a five mile run this morning with a friend from library school/former coworker, then brunch with some new friends, and dinner & a board game (Puerto Rico!) with some friends from undergrad - it's been a great, if exhausting (6 hours of sleep last night!) day.

I'm lucky to have so many great people in my life.

Thankful for

2011-11-12T13:53:00.000-08:00

The awesome financial decisions that hubbub and I have both made up to this point (like, the accumulated years of good decisions we made independently, not just since we've been together), which (as the mortgage specialist we met with told us) puts us in an awesome position vis à vis the whole house buying business.

Today

2011-11-11T04:55:00.000-08:00

I'm thankful for the service of our veterans. The world isn't perfect, but I think it is immensely better than it would have been, thanks to their sacrifices, and I'm deeply grateful.

Thankful for...

2011-11-10T18:53:00.000-08:00

Tylenol.

It was going to be my sister, but this headache really sucks. Hurray for pain relief! Sorry, Sho!

Today I'm grateful for

2011-11-09T18:10:00.000-08:00

Massages.

The one I had tonight hurt a LOT - just the way I like 'em!

Advice From The Internet

2011-11-09T07:59:00.000-08:00

We've all seen them - emails with all kinds of "amazing" tips that your grandmother/favourite pilgrim/culture on another continent/savvy yuppie uses, and if you do too, it will change your life! They're all over the Internet too. A while ago, I saw a list on Reddit, and thought it would be fun to try them all out, and report back.

I didn't do that. I didn't keep the list. BUT I have tried a couple of these Internet tips lately, and think I might continue to try them out (where they're not potentially dangerous or expensive, natch) when I come across stuff like that, and let you know how it goes.

First up: Freeze enveloppes to make the adhesive unsticky so you can open them without ripping them. Why in the world would you need to do this, you ask? Um, maybe if you started writing & sealing wedding thank you notes, but failed to include the little card about photo sharing, and didn't want to waste the enveloppes. Just sayin'.

So anyways. I froze a bunch of sealed & addressed thank you notes. They did not unstick. Sigh...

Real life: 1, Internet: 0

Thankful for...

2011-11-08T16:09:00.000-08:00

A slew of little reminders throughout the day that life is pretty damn awesome.

Nov 7th

2011-11-07T13:29:00.000-08:00

Today I'm thankful for the Ottawa Public Library. I love the new site, like the app, and LOVE that we live so close (I can literally be there in 2 minutes. Granted, I ran, but still... it's a 5 min walk. Awesome.)

How did you think I got my paws on all of the books I've been reading lately? I swear, most of the time it's faster to go online, reserve stuff, and pick it up on the way home that it would be to go to Chapters and try to find the book to purchase it.

Rock on, OPL.

(Also, I'm super excited about the graphic novel I'm about to start. It's about Richard Feynman. Intrigued? Stay tuned...)

Nov 6th

2011-11-06T17:15:00.000-08:00

Today, I am SUPER thankful for the gorgeous weather. Had a GREAT (and way warmer than expected) run this morning in the goooorgeous sunshine. Hurray! I don't think it'll last long, so I was thrilled be out enjoying the weather.

Thankful for...

2011-11-05T18:52:00.000-07:00

the Internet! The afternoon I met up with some lovely fellow readers of A Practical Wedding for a book club meeting to discuss Caitlin Moran's How To Be A Woman. It was great! Making new friends as a grownup is ridiculously hard, so yeah - I'm way thankful to the Internet, today, for providing us another way to build new communities and meet new people.

Also, there was wine, which is also always nice.

November 4th Thankfulness

2011-11-04T16:25:00.000-07:00

Today I'm thankful for all of our options for the future.

So, after a discussion yesterday with a friend about our mutual frustrations about how much stuff costs, and how scary the thought of making big future commitments can be (signing a mortgage that will buy you a house in Ottawa, thinking about kids and the pressure to get that done sooner than later, etc), I'm thankful today for the fact that we HAVE the options. Even if they're scary - they're possible. Not just pipe dreams. Which is pretty awesome.

Thankful November

2011-11-03T13:51:00.000-07:00

So, I'm a few days late jumping on this bandwagon, but a whole bunch of bloggers around the Internet have started a thing where they post something they're thankful for each day in November. I thought about it, then forgot about it, but now I'm going to sprint, catch up to the bandwagon, and leap on. Here we go!

Oct 31 - Nov 2: I was thankful for a) my comfy bed b) my supportive hubbub and c) TV shows on DVD. Underlying all of this was a thankfulness for sick days at work, that I can take without fear of reprisal.

Like this. But less cute.

Nov 3: I'm really thankful to be married. I know it sounds cheesy, but I'm soooo glad to be done with being engaged. When I was little, I fantasized about being engaged (not the dress, the party, the ring... being a fiancée), and wanted a long engagement. I thought it was going to be this amazing time where everything was sweetness and light. Well, we had a long (14 months) engagement, but it was suckage and lameness. I mean, not all of it - but holy hell was I stressed. Now we're back to just being happy and relaxed with each other, and it is awesome. Love you, hubbub!

(It Was A) Happy Hallowe'en!

2011-11-02T14:16:00.000-07:00

So, I didn't go to work today (this is day 3), but I did shower and put on pants. So I definitely think I'm a shoe-in for going to work tomorrow.

Anyways, Hallowe'en. It was fun! I borrowed an awesome Original Series Star Trek costume from my friend and coworker Meghan - she makes awesome costumes for conventions. (I'm taller than she is, so many jokes were made about skirt length being true to the show when I asked to borrow the costume. Oh, the 60s...) I tricked the hubbub into wearing his redshirt costume from his bachelor party... muahahaha.

I shellacked my hair into place...

And slapped on some green eyeshadow up to my eyebrows.

He was an ensign, I was a lieutenant.

Woohoo! I think we make a good team.

We went to dinner before we headed to Great Pumpkin Charity Ball on Friday night, and it was lots of fun. The waiter got a real kick out of our costumes, and the party was a blast. It was the first Big Hallowe'en Party that either one of us had attended, and the costumes were awesome. It makes sense - we were all grownups who had paid admission to be there. People really liked our costumes - and we found another ST:OS away team member - sorry, hubbub...

Also, my friend C sent me an awesome pic of my itty-bitty nearly nephew in the Hallowe'en costume I knitted for him (green baby hat, orange baby cocoon... meant to be a pumpkin, Tim said he looks more like a chili pepper. Either way, he was WAY TOO CUTE for anyone's good).

Bleh

2011-11-01T13:47:00.000-07:00

I've been home sick for two days. I swear, I'm going to work tomorrow just for the company. (Coworkers, you're lucky - I don't think I'm contagious.)

He's heeeeeere!

2011-10-28T10:12:00.000-07:00

My nearly-nephew was born yesterday! I can't wait to meet him (they live 5 hours away, it'll be at least a few weeks), and I doubly can't wait to see photos (what, the new mom & dad have other things on their mind that sending ME photos? Pppfffttt....) but I am being very patient. Mostly I'm psyched that mom and baby are healthy and safe!

Yay, baby!

Excitement All Over The Place

2011-10-26T07:31:00.000-07:00

So! There's lots going on in the upcoming week, and it's all exciting. Like...

Work
Our AGM/All Staff Meeting are today and tomorrow! Today should be interesting, but it is tomorrow I'm excited about - we're presenting our Think Tank results! I'll write up a whole thing about them, but basically: they were a great idea, and we learned a lot. Hurray!

Think Tank: Mission Accomplished

Babies
Still no news on the nearly-nephew front. Can't wait to meet him!!!

Hallowe'en
We don't usually do anything fancy, but kinda on the spur of the moment, we decided to go to the Great Pumpkin Charity Ball. Hubbub has a costume, and so do I (but it's a secret), and I'm pretty excited.

My first fancy Hallowe'en party!

Running
So, I'm training for the Resolution Run 10k, and it's going really well. I had an awesome solo run yesterday, and am running with a friend tomorrow and Saturday. Saturday we're going 4 miles - which is farther than I've run since last year. I'm looking forward to it (although boy howdy has it gotten cold out lately! I really need to get some mitts).

Not quite THIS cold though, thank goodness

Ballin'
We're going paintballing on Sunday!!! It will be my first time. I'm stoked.

Bump watch: Nearly nearly nephew edition

2011-10-25T06:26:00.000-07:00

Guys, I'm going a little crazy with impatience here. A good friend is now overdue for her first little one, and I cannot wait for him to be born. Like, for the past two weeks I've been waiting with bated breath, and now that she's overdue??? Let's just say I can't imagine what it's like to be in her shoes right now, if I'm this nutso.

I just want him here, and for both of them to be safe, and healthy! Can't wait to meet my newest nearly-nephew... eeee!!! Babies!

Delicious Eats

2011-10-20T12:57:00.000-07:00

Well, the latest culinary endeavours both come from Eat, Live, Run - what can I say, the woman knows what's she's doing! - and we'll definitely be making them again. (Probably.)

First up: Homemade pad thai. That actually tastes like legit pad thai, rather than a pale imitator! (Even though the dish is pretty pale. Whatever, don't get picky with me!) It has some pretty authentic ingredients, like fish sauce and tamarind (I now know exactly what it feels like to be looking for something in the grocery store when I have no idea what it looks like. At least I was in the right section!). This is probably why it tastes surprisingly close to what you'd get from an actual Thai restaurant. Verdict: YUM. And bonus that the hubbub liked the tofu! He was pretty skeptical. We will definitely be making this again.

Her pad thai, not mine.

Next up, we have split pea soup. This is the probably making again recipe - only because we haven't actually had it yet. I made it on Tuesday evening (it takes a GOOD 3 hours to make), and froze most of it, but preliminary examination indicates that tonight's dinner should be YUM. It was really not labour intensive, the ingredients were pretty cheap, and it makes a large batch, so really - all signs point to "making again." As long as it is fairly yummy. Which it should be. (I'd chop up the carrots smaller next time though - rookie mistake!)

Again, not my split pea soup. Crackers are a good idea, though.

Running Wishlist

2011-10-18T09:14:00.000-07:00

So, you probably didn't know this, but when I said I wanted to get back into some habits, that included working out regularly. Specifically, I wanted to get back into running (took a hiatus after a half marathon followed by a 10k last fall) and resistance training. The good news? I have, and I feel fantastic (sometimes tired. But mostly fantastic). I'm training for a 10k Resolution Run (yes, on the evening of Dec 31st) with a friend, and it feels great to be training for an event again. Yay! I learned last fall that I really like 10k-ish runs, so I'm really looking forward to this, and the training. Can't wait to get back to over-5k runs!

The bad news? I have managed to come up with a wish list of new running gear that I waaaaaant. Some of it I need (I usually knock off running outside when it gets chilly), but some of it is definitely on the "want" side of things. For example:

Running Sleeves: I've got friends who swear by them, and I see the appeal. Starting off in a long-sleeved shirt and pulling up the sleeves isn't the same! Downside: I think the season for wearing them will be rather short; I'm probably going to have to be in a long sleeved shirt/jacket fairly soon, so I'm not sure it would be worth buying a pair. Maybe if I could find a pair with built-in mittens...

I think I'd avoid white, though.

A foam roller: For sore muscles. This is something I've heard a lot about - some people LOVE them, some don't see the benefit. I think it could be good? I don't currently have access to one to be able to try it out. I wonder if you can return them if you don't like it.

I'd be able to practice my serious face!

Headband: Lately I've been getting ear aches when running coz my ears get cold, but I get hot when I run, so a tuque is out of the question. I think a wicking headband is in order!

That would work... sans snowflakes though.

Lululemon everything: Yes, Lulu is pricey. But the Lulu gear I have is so great. The quality is fantastic, and it's super comfy. I've got Lulu pants, tanks, and a hoodie, and get a LOT of use out of them. The gear is just a step up from other items... but the price, oh, the price... Well, a girl can dream, right?

Yes, please!

Not That I Don't Love Ikea

2011-10-14T06:46:00.000-07:00

After yesterday's disdain of Manland, I'm actually pretty happy that there's a story in the Ottawa Citizen about the new Ikea in Ottawa - it is supposed to open on December 7th! I don't think I want to be anywhere near the madness for the first... month, at least? But I'm excited to have "the full Ikea experience." There's no mention of Manland, for what that's worth.

So excited it is the weekend, friends (or, almost). I'm STILL exhausted. I blame sleep debt, feeling slightly under the weather, seriously stepping up the workouts (first official week of training for the Resolution Run + increasing weights and reps during resistance training = tired!), and the grey weather. Ick. Tomorrow's a rest day, and Sunday's "long" run isn't long yet (2 miles. Piece of cake. Have I mentioned that I'm digging this training program?), so I'm planning on shaking off this lethargy over the weekend.

Need less of this.

And possibly making some split pea soup. I need to find some ham hocks, but I'll let you know how it goes.

Manland of Discontent

2011-10-13T08:09:00.000-07:00

So, you may have heard about Ikea's Manland, a corral for bored manpanions who can't be trusted to tour through Ikea with their lady of preference. When I saw the video about it (see link above), I thought "huh. I guess that's interesting? I'm pretty sure that the hubbub would rather stay with me than play awkwardly with the other guys, though..." Also, the 30 minute time limit seems a bit ridic. Who can get through Ikea in 30 minutes? And why in the world would you want to get halfway through Ikea and then turn around to fetch your man from daycare, and subsequently drag him through the remainder of the store? Remember, this is a guy who can't possibly be expected to survive an Ikea trip sans tantrum, as established by the fact that you deposited him at Manland in the first place. Point: If your manpanion reacts to a shopping trip the way a 5 year old does, leave him at home. And then maybe get a new one?

When I showed the hubbub the video, he was pretty offended. He thought it was demeaning to men. Yesterday, the Globe and Mail agreed with him.

Honestly, going to Ikea is halfway to hanging out in a stranger's house to begin with (that being said, I do love the show rooms). You seriously need to leave your man in some creepy not-quite-living-room with strangers, because he can't manage to muster up an opinion on coffee tables and/or book cases? Yikes. (NB: in this case, yes, "whatever you like honey" is an opinion. I just think he at least deserves a preview of what he'll be asked to help put together, ya know?)

Now, if there were a ball pit, it might be a different story. Like, one where we play rock paper scissors to see who has to go shopping, and who gets to stay and play. (Except not actually rock paper scissors, coz I always lose to the hubbub. I swear he can read my mind!)

So jealous.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-10-11T08:42:00.000-07:00

So, it was Canadian Thanksgiving this past weekend. My mom organized for the family to meet up at a rented cottage on Rice Lake, just outside of Coburg. The location was lovely; the lake and trees were beautiful; the cottage has lots of potential if it were maintained properly, but turned out to be a sketchfest.

Seriously. There were 3 bedrooms downstairs (where we has planned to, you know... sleep. Instead we dubbed them "the murder rooms" and avoided at all costs). But the whole basement smelled of mold, and the walls were black with mildew. Thank goodness there was a bedroom upstairs, and the large living room could accomodate the air mattress my uncles (serendipitously) had with them, the fold-out couch mattress we hauled upstairs, and the couch. It was like a big slumber party all weekend! Which was kinda fun, but I didn't end up sleeping well. The place was dirty, had no silverware, had the creepiest animal skin rug I've ever seen (we think it was some kind of crazy hyena?) and we weren't actually sure that the water was drinkable (thank goodness we had lots of wine, right?) But everyone survived, and had fun. We definitely made the best of it. I think that this series of texts from Sunday sums up the weekend nicely:

[Family is in town shopping; hubbub and I return to cottage after breakfast with some friends, and put turkey in oven]
Sister: There's a badger in the green rough tote
Sister: *baster
[Interlude: I attempt to baste the turkey]
Me: Turns out the tea towel is highly flammable... If you guys were to come across some over mitts...
Sister: I lit the towel on fire this morning too. There's oven mitts hanging on side of cupboard on right side of sink, above coffee maker.

And then when we got home, we made turkey stock, pickles, and yogurt. Not surprisingly, I'm pretty wiped today!

Just Finished Reading - My Year of Meats and Dignifying Science

2011-10-06T09:59:00.000-07:00

Hi friends -

Holy wow, it has been a busy week. Am I EVER glad that I took tomorrow off... I'm really looking forward to Thanksgiving weekend! I've got a whole stack of X-Men comics a friend lent me a while ago, and I really need to get on that... which I will be doing now that I have completed the last of the Kat Rosenfeld list!

Ruth Ozeki's My Year of Meats was the Rosenfeld book I liked the best... and it was also the one I had the hardest time getting into. For some reason, the opening scene just wasn't doing it for me... but finally, I got into it, and I loved reading the story of these two women. And also, am seriously considering going organic in the meat department... but that's another conversation. Be warned, though, there's some pretty graphic, albeit brief, depictions of a slaughterhouse towards the end of the book. It was so good though.

Next up is Dignifying Science, "the second in a series of books done in comics form telling true stories about scientists. This book features famous women scientists including Marie Curie, mathematician Emmy Noether, physicist Lise Meitner, DNA researcher Rosalind Franklin, biologist Barbara McClintock, primatologist Birute Galdikas, and Hedy Lamarr. Yes, that Hedy Lamarr...her story will surprise you!"

It was good - I liked the graphic novel approach - but I have one major complaint about it, which is the lack of context for the stories. I felt like each chapter was aimed at someone who already knew about the scientist in question, so I was often lost. I discovered an appendix at the end which gave some historical/contextual information about each scientist - I really think that they should have put this as an introductory page before the story. I would have gotten more out of it that way, and suspect others would have, too! Nonetheless, I have borrowed other graphic novels by the same author from the library, and am looking forward to reading them (and have a hold on the one about Feynman - I expect that to be a hoot!)

Yes.

2011-10-03T09:24:00.000-07:00

So. Grey, cloudy day here, chilly day in the office (I have a space heater on!), and it took a while to wake up, but my Monday is looking good, and I've got high hopes for the week! Hope you do too!

Unclutterer has a post about mise en place while cooking. I'm a big fan, especially for new recipes. It helps avoid doing the "oh crap, I don't have that essential ingredient" in the middle of delicate recipes, and makes the whole thing more enjoyable.
Speaking of cooking, we had excellent culinary adventures last week. I made a whole roasted chicken, and then we made meatballs, and then we made broth from the chicken carcass. Tonight, it'll be home made chicken soup... and it's perfect weather for it, too!
Our first pre-AGM Think Tank is this afternoon! In 45 minutes! Going to finish some stuff, grab a coffee, and head to another one of our libraries to help facilitate it. So excited!
Last week was the Week of Contracts. This week will also be the Week of Contracts, only it is shaping up to also be the Week of Excellent Negotiation Results, which I am eminently pleased about.
This week is also a Short Week, followed by a looooong, family and cottage a turkey-filled weekend, which I am looking forward to.

Ready, set, cook!

Think Tank Excitement

2011-09-30T11:11:00.000-07:00

So, our library pre-AGM Think Tanks start next week (on Monday!) and I'm super excited about them. Our Chief Librarian sent the email inviting people yesterday (late, I know - I was sick Monday & Tuesday, and out of the office for most of the day on Wednesday and yesterday!), and I sent a reminder email today - and people are signing up! It's really exciting to me to get questions about it, and see the people who want to attend.

On that note, the questions I've received have been a great reminder to over-explain on a new idea. Most people get it after I explain... but there has been some confusion. Which is totally fair. A couple examples:

Is this going to be really gloomy? Is it going to be people getting together to complain? No! It's going to be upbeat, lively, and totally imaginative - we want a conversation that's totally blue sky, and not constrained by practical considerations... we'll get to those later. Certainly not a bitchfest! My co-chair and I will have none of that.
Can co-op students participate? I don't want to take someone else's spot... YES! Students have a great perspective - they get what we're doing, coz they've worked with us, but aren't emotionally attached to the way we do things, AND they're likely talking to other students in other libraries... I WANT our co-op students there - I think their comments will be really valuable.

So yeah, I'm really excited about the next month at work - I think that these pre-AGM conversations, and the discussion of what we learned at the AGM, and going to be really interesting, and provide us with a nice infusion of enthusiasm and energy to shake things up.

Destroy old ideas!

Just Finished Reading - The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets

2011-09-29T07:02:00.000-07:00

[Before I get into this - could you please tell me where I'm finding time to read all of these books? Coz I'm not sure, to be honest.]

So, this is my second-to-last Kat Rosenfeld recommendation; The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets by Eva Rice (read an interview with her here). It was eminently readable and quite good (although I found that it slowed down towards the end).

I once had a conversation with a friend about the gigantic old stone houses that litter the British countryside, and the incredible expense of maintaining them (which means that many of them simply rot away)... it was lovely to read a story that was partially set in one, and to see how the house influenced the characters' feelings.

It's ultimately a story of liberation, and learning, and one whose characters you don't want to leave when the book ends. Thumbs up!

Whitewater Redux

2011-09-27T16:13:00.000-07:00

So, this past weekend was awesome - dinner at the Fraser Cafe with the hubbub (deeelicious - we both had the Chef's Choice. Hurray for surprise meals!) and a lovely classical music concert (the violinist played a violin from 1715 lent to him exclusively by the Austrian National Bank!).

Saturday was a BBQ for the Board of a professional association I'm involved with. It was awesome to get together to hang out without talking about "work"... and I had a very good time. (Also, had tequila shots for the first time in a loooong time.)

I do, however, need to remember not to have such a good time on nights before early morning departures for whitewater rafting! Luckily the hangover dissipated pretty quickly... it was a good trip! Hubub and I brought my sister along too. The water level has dropped since we rafted a couple of weeks ago, so the water was tamer, but it was still a good time. And it didn't stop us from flipping our boat during a boat surf.

We went over sideways, like this.

We also did cliff jumping off of a higher cliff this time - 6m. In case you were wondering, that is more than enough time to really think about the fact that you're falling, and to shriek - twice. What can I say?

Not much to report on the injury front: a pretty contusion on my left forearm (banged it on the first aid kit while getting down for a rough spot; nice bruise & swelling), bumped my chin when we flipped but have nothing to show for it, and some bruises on my right shin which I suspect are rafting-related, but I can't prove anything.

So that was our last rafting trip for the summer, but what's next? I really want to raft the Ottawa next spring/early summer during high water, I'd like to catch the runs on the Magnetawan up in Georgian Bay, and the Petawawa sounds great... I think it's going to be a busy spring!

Reimagining Library Real Estate

2011-09-23T07:09:00.000-07:00

So, I'm on the planning team for our library's AGM this fall, and we're going to be doing something a bit different - convening mini think-tanks on three key strategic areas, and then rolling up the discussions and reporting back at the AGM. This way, we get to hear more voices/voices that aren't usually heard, and really engage staff at all levels, and in all areas (our library system is country-wide!) on some important issues/potential issues for our library. Specifically, we're going to be talking about:

Reimagining Real Estate
Reimagining Technical and Access Services
Reimagining Library Services

My planning co-chair and I had an awesome discussion yesterday about the think tanks, and then we got to thinking about the space we occupy here in Ottawa... and we got REALLY radical. (I don't want to expand at the moment, because I don't want to influence the discussions...) And it was exciting. And now I want to build a business case to actually do it.

My hubbub pointed out last night that these are decisions "above my pay grade." True - but I've been thinking a lot about where my strengths are (as I said yesterday, I don't think they're in reference, even though I like it), and I think it's strategy. And planning. So I want to do more of that. So that's what I'm going to do, insofar as possible. The way to learn how to do it, for me, is to just do it... This is why I'm so glad to work in a library where it is okay to make wild suggestions, even if they're not strictly within your job description.

(Also, the BeerBrarian has a good post about transforming library spaces. I'm going to have to see how to apply his suggestions at our libraries.)

Toughest Reference Librarian Questions

2011-09-22T12:49:00.000-07:00

Part of why I love reference work (even though it isn't my strongest suit as a librarian) is that you get to learn cool stuff. So I thought that this article, "What are the toughest questions tossed at reference librarians?" was a very neat one!

Let me just say, the questions mentioned in this article are tough. If confronted with one, I think I'd look like this...

Have you had any especially difficult or amusing reference questions?

We're Married - I Thought the Nightmares Would Stop

2011-09-22T05:48:00.000-07:00

This is not me. But it could have been.

So, I had a wedding nightmare last night - which is not fair, because I paid those dues! I had the pre-wedding nightmares, and I thought I'd escaped that scourge - shouldn't there be other things for my subconcious to freak out about? But nooooo, I had to have a nightmare about having a second wedding ceremony that I didn't even want, with basically all of the same people who were at our actual wedding (so I had to worry that they'd be bored), and all kinds of details (like chairs. And copies of the readings. And programs) were missing, and I didn't want to be there. And we were having the ceremony on a partially boarded-over pool, so I had to worry about people falling into the water.

W.T.F.

Oh, indiscriminate squid...

2011-09-21T12:29:00.000-07:00

My favourite line from this article is definitely the very last one. Please go read it!

And speaking of sex, I just finished reading The Inner Circle by T.C. Boyle.

I generally agree with this Washington Post review, although I don't "almost wish I hadn't read it." I'm quite glad that I read it - I found it to be quite the page turner - although I agree that it is disturbing. The exploration of how the insistence that it is "just sex" impacts the relationships between the characters; how Milk's devotion to work influences his view of and relationship with the most important people in his life; the slippery slope into questionable moral practices that the characters slide down so easily (bring to mind Malcolm's rant in Jurassic Park: "You were so busy thinking about whether you could that you didn't stop to think about whether you should," or something along those lines)... I found it to be quite an interesting exploration of the intersection between our humanity and our "human animal" -ness.

A Little Bit of Awesome

2011-09-20T06:26:00.000-07:00

Saw this on Wild Olive's blog today - love it. Would have nowhere to put it, but love that it exists (and that the Irish coffee is a redhead!)

This poster is available on (where else?) Etsy

I'm on the Vibrams Bandwagon

2011-09-19T09:09:00.000-07:00

These are my new shoes. I feel like Tony the Tiger when I wear them

So, I've been toying with the idea of picking up some Vibram Fivefingers for pretty much forever. And Friday after work, I finally did! Need for appropriate whitewater rafting footwear + Sports4 Groupon = Vibrams!

I've got the KomodoSports. They have a "more agressive" sole than some of the other models, and a nice cloth upper. I think that will let me wear them longer this season. The bottom looks like this:

I wore them around lots this weekend, and I like 'em. I've had a bit of toe cramping, but other than that, the adjustment has been pretty easy. Maybe because I've been walking around barefoot as much as possible this summer?

Haven't been running in them (not sure I want to, honestly), but I plan on taking them for a test drive at the gym this afternoon. I picked up some socks for them too... and had one of the most hilarious conversations with the hubbub (who is not a fan of the Vibrams) of the course of our marriage. It went something like this:

Me: Would you object to coming to the store with me to get some creepy toe socks for my Vibrams? Would you object to having them in the house?
Him: (Deadpan look) I object to having them in my universe.
Me: But you didn't object to be bringing the shoes into the house.
Him: I think they're really weird. I tolerate them because I love you very much.
Me: Uncontrollable fit of laughter.

I wish all of my footwear brought this much mirth into our household.

How To Pick a Library School

2011-09-16T08:29:00.000-07:00


The first thing you need to do is watch this video about why going to library school is a bad idea. And then you should watch the sequel, about library job hunting!

So, there is lots out there about picking a library school - most recently for me, a thread on reddit from someone who wants to go to library school, asking where people went. I suggested that people going to library school should not worry about school reputations (unless you're hearing terrible things and want to avoid it), because employers don't care where you went to school. And I stand by that.

Employers care about:

You having a piece of paper from an ALA-accredited institution
Your skills
Your experience

If you have a very specific area of interest (archives; specific data or information management interests), you should go to a school that will cater to that. But everyone does public libraries, children's libraries, cataloguing, etc. So if you just want to go to library school, don't spend a whole bunch more money to go to a "better" school because you think it'll give you an edge up. School names rarely do.

Also, I'm very familiar with the challenge of "I need library experience to get a job, but I need a job to get library experience." The best thing I did at Western, in terms of my career, was to participate in the co-op program. (My first job was with the consulting firm I worked for for my 2nd co-op term; I was eligible for a special hiring vehicle, bridging, for my current position because I worked for the Government of Canada for my first co-op term.) So take advantage of work experience opportunities. Take advantage of networking opportunities. If you're the kind of person who will do that, go to a school with a co-op program. But whether or not you'll use those programs is highly dependent on the individual, and most schools do have some kind of co-op stuff (in Canada, anyways).

Bottom line: Don't spend extra money to go to a "better" library school. In terms of your career, it doesn't matter what school you go to. You're going to learn on the job. Do some research, avoid library schools that have bad reviews from students, and maybe pick a school with subject matter depth if you have a specific interest. Other than that, you should probably go to the cheapest place you can.

Fun With Eggplants

2011-09-15T14:54:00.000-07:00

So, Sofya has done it again (again because I use her yogurt recipe) with her Easy End-of-Summer Moussaka recipe. We had an eggplant that we needed to use, so I picked up the other stuff we needed, and gave this a shot this past weekend. It actually was really easy, and super yummy. I actually had 2 eggplants, so I think I ended up with an unfavourable meat : everything else ratio, but I wouldn't change anything other than making sure to use enough meat next time!

Eggplants are so pretty! I love their purpley goodness.

Of note, I did soak the eggplant to get rid of the bitterness, which I think was a good call. I've always been intimidated by cooking with eggplants, and I've been slowly making my way towards cooking them more (putting them in with other roasted veg; hubbub makes baba ghanoush), and this recipe is an awesome one for a beginner eggplant-cooker. The eggplant was easily my fave part of this dish!

Also, it makes great leftovers. Yum! I think next up I'll try my hand at ratatouille.

Just Finished Reading - Flight of the Maidens

2011-09-14T08:21:00.000-07:00

Yet another Kat Rosenfeld special - she recommended 6 books, and I've got 3 left to review - and one I really like. Flight of the Maidens is about 3 girls in post-WWII England preparing to go off to college, and learning a lot about themselves and their relationships with other people. There's a lot of reading between the lines for the reader, which I think allows us to better understand how much guesswork these young women have to do as they try to navigate a rather pivotal moment in growing up.

I wasn't blown away, but I liked it!

Run For The Cure

2011-09-12T17:04:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone -
For the third time, I'm going to be doing Run For The Cure again this year. If you're at all inclined to support me (I've got a fundraising goal of 150$), I'd be very grateful; if not financially, then I'd appreciate your warm fuzzy thoughts!
Thank you!
Emily

Whitewater Rafting - Heck Yes!

2011-09-11T16:10:00.001-07:00

This weekend the hubbub and I went whitewater rafting with Esprit Whitewater. It was awesome. We got a great deal with a Groupon they had earlier this summer, and I'm so glad that we went for it. I had been rafting when I was 16 (in northern Quebec, but I don't remember which river), and could remember that I liked it (says the girl who bounced out of the boat on one of the rapids!), but that was pretty much it. Tim had never been.

We headed to basecamp (about a 2 hour drive from Ottawa) on Friday after work, set up our tent, and had dinner.

Basecamp at sunset. From sweetspot.ca

We turned in early because we needed to be up for breakfast at 7 (breakkie was pretty good), and were on a bus to the put-in at 8.30. In our briefing, the lead guide mentioned that anyone who is "thermally fragile" might want to rent a wetsuit, which I did. ("Thermally fragile," by the way, may be my new fave saying.) I'm glad I had it - the water was warm, but it was about 19 degrees out, so I think I would have been too chilly to really enjoy myself without it.

Put in. From Library Playground's Flickr

And enjoy myself I did! Our guide, Dave, was awesome, and we only had 3 other people in our raft - Dave, Tim, and Upalma (yes, two Tims and two Daves!). We made a great team, and had a blast. We only lost someone (not-guide Dave) from the boat in the rapids once, early in the day.

We totally did this.

We did this too...

We rafted two channels of the river, with a delicious lunch in the middle, and then headed back to basecamp for a bbq dinner (which was okay, but not worth the 25$ each) and another night of camping. All in all, a fantastic weekend, but I think we'll make it a day trip next time (oh, there will be a next time. Possibly in about 2 weeks...) Apparently, the Ottawa river is one of the top whitewater rafting spot in North America. I'm looking forward to trying it out in the spring - the rapids are different when the water is higher.

This is not us, but we looked like this at the end of the day. Thanks to Library Playground's Flickr.

Also, I'm mostly uninjured, but not completely unscathed (because it isn't a real adventure if you don't have something to show for it, right?). I've got a wicked bruise on the top of my right foot from where I kicked a bench, and an even more impressive bruise of unknown origin on my left ankle. Also, my right quad is killing me whenever I use it. But all in all, totally worth it.


Focus on the bruise, not the weird angle...

It's more impressive in real life.

Friday! Lovely Library Links

2011-09-09T11:02:00.000-07:00

So, yesterday was great! Loooong, but great. I didn't end up touching a camera, but was the organizer-person for my team (we were 2 teams of 2 videographers and an organizer person), and it was great. Finding people we needed to shoot, making sure we had everything we needed, keeping an eye on the schedule (and rejigging frequently, oy!), telling execs that they had to use the bathroom at the other end of the hall coz we were filming... aaaah. Good times. And the people I was working with are awesome, which always helps. Next up: editing! Others have the lead on it, but I'm planning on lending a hand - need to practice, or I'll forget how to use Premiere!

We're going camping & whitewater rafting this weekend. I can't wait. So excited. And here's some excitement for you (library types, anyways)!

15 Incredible Libraries Around the World (saw this on Twitter, and Facebook - thanks, K!)

Soooo pretty.

Meet The Guy Spending 10 Days in Jail for Overdue Library Books

Poor Guy.

Now For Something Different

2011-09-08T04:36:00.001-07:00

My library had an extensive video collection, and a Video Community of Practice, of which I am a part. We were asked to film parts of the Deputy Minister's Leadership Forum. So I'm spending the day at the brand new Ottawa Convention Centre (I really like what I've seen so far) with a couple hundred execs, a bunch of scientists, some awesome facilitators, and my VCoP peeps. We've got a tight shooting schedule, and I anticipate being exhausted by end of day, but it is awesome to be here!

Also, when I pulled out my phone to blog this, I realised I didn't charge it last night. Damn. Rookie mistake.

Just Finished Reading - Freedom, The Gargoyle, Rex Libris

2011-09-06T11:44:00.001-07:00

It was a busy reading weekend for me! Helps that I was off on Monday. Now I have some reviews for you!

Freedom, Jonathan Franzen

This book was definitely "meh" to me. For some reason, it was a very slow read (maybe because I didn't love it, or something about the language? I dunno). It gradually got better, but I could easily have walked away from it at pretty much any point. I kept reading it because Kat Rosenfeld said I should, but it turns out that not everything that comes out of her mouth (blog) is Gospel. Only most of it.

The Gargoyle, Andrew Davidson

Another Rosenfeld recommendation, and this time I agreed. I read this one in two days. I don't think it compares with Life of Pi as someone claims on the dust jacket, but it's definitely a good read - a love story of the definitely-not-Nicholas-Sparks genre (I'm guessing here, because I've never actually read a Sparks book or seen a Sparks movie). Plus, Davidson is Canadian, which is always exciting.

Rex Libris: Book of Monsters, James Turner

Um, who doesn't love a graphic novel about an ass-kicking librarian who is always setting about saving the world? I love the literary references in this series. So fun!

Soup Weather, Carrot-Ginger Style

2011-09-06T08:43:00.000-07:00

So, it's been cooling off here in Ottawa. Saturday and Sunday were ickily humid, but yesterday - yesterday's weather was perfect. I love the fall so much - not least of all because I can cozy up with a delicious bowl of soup. Ever since picking up an immersion blender, the idea of blended soups has gotten MUCH less daunting.

Love it. Use it all the time.

Yesterday I made an amazing carrot ginger soup, from Eat, Live, Run. Seriously, try it. I'm on my own for dinner tonight, so I may have to make more (the hubbub ate the leftovers), because it is just that good.

Plus, I now have a bag of shallots I need to use up. Anyone have suggestions on what to do with them?

Happy Labour Day! Maxims edition

2011-09-05T06:11:00.000-07:00

Hi friends! So I'm sitting here on my couch, all Lululemon'ed up, coffee in hand. The plan is to do some yoga at some point this morning. They say to dress for success, right? I think I'm much more likely to go through with it now that I'm not in pyjamas anymore.

Saturday we spent a couple of hours grocery shopping, including a trip to Costco. As we were walking down the cereal aisle, I saw a Super Jumbo box of "New Chocolate Cheerios!" I expressed my skepticism to my hubbub* and some random guy was like "No! Get them! They're so good! They're not overly sweet - I get them for me, not my kids." Still skeptical, but deciding that 8$ is a fine price to pay for not offending the friendly man, I grabbed a box - and they're delicious. Definitely a treat, but yummy and cocoa-y, and I agree - not too sweet. They say to try new things.

Anyways, my plan for today is breakfast, yoga, shower, some light housekeeping, maybe some reading, probably watching Jurrassic Park. They say to do one thing a day that scares you...

*My phone autocorrects hubby to hubbub. Which I think is awesome, so I've taken to calling him that. Hahaha.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

2011-09-01T08:03:00.000-07:00

It's back to school time! Yay! I always loved going back to school, and since finishing school, the beginning of September always makes me nostalgic, and a little sad that I'm no longer a student. (I'd love to be working on a school campus right now!) And then I think about how nice it is to make real money, and that helps brighten things up. Anyways, September always seems like more of a "New Year" than January 1st. After the schedule craziness that always comes with summer, September 1st is the ideal time to start getting back into regular habits - for I truly am a creature of habit. I'm much happier, and feel much more in control of my life, when there's a consistent rhythm to the things I do (work, exercise, household duties, leisure time, etc).

Of course, I've gotten out of the habit of having habits, so the first thing I need to do (tonight!) is hash out a schedule that I think will work for me/us. And then... to implement!

Yes! Just like that. This guy gets it.

How A Bad Date May Improve My Library's Marketing

2011-08-31T13:22:00.000-07:00

Let me tell you about my weirdest date

Yesterday, someone at my work (I don't know who), brought in 3 boxes of dried dates. Not sure where they came from, but the boxes are shiny, so I picked one up, grabbed a date (yummy!), and then looked at the box more closely.

I told you it was shiny.

But the front isn't the interesting part. The back is:

Crazy claims about dates.

Can you read that text? According to the box, "modern science" has confirmed that dates will help cure everything from your sexual debility to your obesity to your childbirth difficulties.

I swear this has to do with libraries

I am skeptical of the claims made by the date box. They're not even logical, let alone "confirmed" (stating a thing does not make it so). So I did what I do when I'm skeptical - I mocked the box. And as I was reading some of these random, not-actually-confirmed, not-actually-logical claims to a coworker of mine, I started thinking about what the company was trying to do. As far as I can tell, they're trying to show that the dates are good for everyone! Everyone should eat the dates! You should eat these dates, and then buy more! But by trying to appeal to everyone, they lost me as a customer. The company actually strikes me as a bunch of nutjobs now, and I'm not inclined to go find more dates to buy. I mean, they were fun while they lasted, but I won't be back.This marketing ploy was totally ineffective. And it's common speak in library land.

In which I get to the point
I get it. There are people who luuuuurve libraries. Generally, I'm one of them. Those are the people who will agree when you just make vague statements about how libraries are awesome for every demographic of a given population (like they did about dates on the box). I'm not saying it is untrue, per se (unlike the claims on the date box. I don't think those are true), but that when you're portraying yourself as everything to everyone, in vague terms, then you're not going to connect with anyone who doesn't already see the value of libraries - and that's not our target audience.

Thinking about my own library's marketing efforts, I can see that we've fallen into this trap. (And I swore I wouldn't, when I was in library school. So annoying.) We've got a wide variety of audiences to appeal to, and we don't have a lot of staff to do it (a commond refrain among librarians. Everyone join in!). We genuinely do have resources, knowledge, and skills that can help people from all groups in my organization - and to library staff, the value of the library is so self-evident that the generalities don't seem vague at all. Of course we can be of assistance to a geologist headed out for a field season, a junior policy analyst, and an Assistant Deputy Minister - and they should just know that, right? Wrong! So they're not using the library, and that is a problem.

What we should be doing is making statements about the library that resonate with the clients, rather than making statements about the clients that resonate with the library. The date box statements are navel-gazing; they're about how absolutely fantastic dates are, but none of them were about why the dates were directly relevant to the particular issue I was looking to resolve (namely "you're hungry, and we're delicious!")

Don't get me wrong - we don't always fall into this trap. When we're one on one with a client, or presenting library services to a specific group, we're great at identifying our clients' particular pain points when it comes to information they need, and addressing them. And that's what gets us the repeat customers. We're just not doing it in our more general marketing - because it's tough. It's way easier to just be general, and trust that that's enough.

But it isn't enough. It's what gets us overlooked, and what puts us at risk for losing our libraries due to budget cuts. And at the risk of seeming like a tease, I've got what I think are some good ideas on how we (I) can make this situation better at my library... but this is plenty long enough for today, so it will have to wait until later. I'm excited to be thinking about this, though. And excited to be working in a place where I believe I'll be able to make a change, too.

My Hometown

2011-08-31T09:36:00.000-07:00

(There's a more serious, library-y blog post coming later today.)

So, I'm from Windsor, Ontario. People don't usually believe me when I say it's not all that rough, but it hasn't had a murder in 22 months. This is especially striking when compared to Detroit's murder rates (which are discussed in the article).

This reminds me of a story my great-aunt told me. She was a police officer in Detroit in the '70s, and she and her coworkers were discussing incidents of rape, and wondering how numbers in Detroit compared to those in Windsor. So they called up the cops in Windsor, who couldn't remember when the last time they'd had one was. (Yes, I know, this doesn't mean that there weren't any. But it's illustrative.) Needless to say, the Detroit cops were floored.

Windsor's an odd town. I don't think you can love it if you weren't raised there. And I don't want to live there again, I don't think. But it's still got lots going for it (and I'd rather live in Windsor again than in London, Ontario. For sure), in some odd ways.

Just Finished Reading - The Hunger Games

2011-08-30T09:37:00.000-07:00

So, the hubby and I have just finished reading the Hunger Games series (aloud. To one another. I shall explain), and I'd like to tell you what I think of it. Leave now if you're deathly afraid of spoilers. I'll try to be vague, but make no promises.

These are them!

Okay, so I started reading the first book, and realized that the story was going to be really compelling. Like, I wasn't going to want to put it down, and was going to have a hard time not-reading it on the 6-ish hour drive to the cottage for the Civic Holiday weekend. Unfortunately, ignoring your husband while trapped in a small metal & plastic box for 6 hours isn't really kosher, so... as soon as I realized that I was hooked, I went back to the beginning, and started reading the book out loud to him, so he'd be hooked too. (This is how drug dealers work, yes?) We powered through it that weekend, started book 2 after my laser eye surgery, and finished book 3 this past weekend.

All of the books would benefit from a good copy edit. But comma splices and sentence fragments (ugh) aside, the first book was a great story.

Unfortunately, it was downhill from there. Some of my problems with books 2 & 3? Increases in the boooooring teenage self-reflexive angst, and cop-outs on the action from the author (juuuuuust when it starts to look juicy, the heroine is injured and wakes up in the hospital. Cheap.) But mostly it's that the stuff I really liked in Book 1 (who will survive the arena? How will the heroine do it? And what about the boy?) are lost in stilted, not particularly inventive, political drama. Bleh.

If you liked Lord of the Flies and/or the first Hunger Games book (uhh... The Hunger Games) I'd strongly recommend reading Battle Royale rather than wasting your time with Catching Fire and Mockingjay. (If you're really curious and insist on knowing what happens, though, I suppose I could fill you in.) Battle Royale is amazing - way better than Hunger Games. And doesn't have any silly sequels for me to complain about. Win win!

Post-Cottage Monday

2011-08-29T08:49:00.000-07:00

So, we were lucky enough to spend last weekend at the cottage with my in-laws. Seriously, it is tough to be back at work after a long weekend of this:

Gorgeous lake

with this guy:

Gorgeous husband.

But back at work I am! And it is going to be a busy week; the summer lull is officially over. For those of you interested in what a week in the life of an acting Manager, Licensing and Access Services librarian type is like, here's what I've got on my plate:

Complete drafting an outline for updates to our Collection Development policy (which was mostly written but never officially deployed), including suggestions for appendices/supporting documents. Meet about it on Tuesday to discuss with colleagues. Keep working on it. Woohoo, policy suite development.
Review contract with publisher to see how much wiggle room we have in dropping/changing subscriptions for this year's renewals; if necessary, convene team of subject specialists to review subscriptions and make renewal recommendations.
Touch base with team members on renewals for a different contract.
Meet with video production team (meeting not yet scheduled) for the video capture of the Deputy Minister's Leadership Forum, which I've been asked to participate in.

Move meeting scheduled on the day of the DM's Leadership Forum, as I'm going to be out of the office that day. Sorry folks, paper beats rock, and DM beats all.

AGM Planning team teleconference Tuesday, and follow up (including, something tells me, drafting communications materials) throughout the week.
Populate the new contract management spreadsheet. This is overdue, and it's going to require lots of attention to detail and combing over contracts. This may be my toughest task this week, no joke. Tasks that require a significant amount of attention to detail are tough for me; I'm definitely more of a big-picture thinker.
Try to schedule a meeting to review a Drupal module that we may be able to implement which would take the place of the contract management spreadsheet that I'm going to spend many painful hours working on, because we do need an updated tool NOW, and can't really wait for the Drupal module to be implemented.

But we definitely need something better than a spreadsheet, so if the Drupal module looks like it won't work, I'm going to be outlining requirements for a database. Which I then will probably have to contruct. But next week.
And if the Drupal module looks like it will work, I'm sure I'll have a hand in that, too. Again, hopefully next week.

And of course, putting out fires and responding to client requests as things come up.

Update on the Black Thumb

2011-08-25T09:45:00.001-07:00

I, friends, have a much bemoaned black thumb. I excel at killing plants, like it or not. To add insult to injury, I have certified Master Gardeners and horticulturists in my family. They say talent skips a generation, and you should have seen my Mimi's garden, but this is one ability I did not inherit. And yet, every once in a while, I give it a try. I was bitten by the "try to keep a plant alive" bug while honeymooning in Hawai'i - see, they've got lovely plumeria trees all over, and I really liked them. And then I came across plumeria cuttings (called nematodes) that you could bring home! And plant! So I decided to give it a try. (But I also brought one home for my sister, and my father-in-law. Diversification: my key to success!)

I almost left it too long (um, it had started to sprout in its bag! Oops.) but a while ago (a month? ish, anyways), I stuck my green stick in a pot, and brought it to work where I thought it would get more light. It looked like this:

Nema-nematode

According to the tag, it was supposed to get leaves in its first year, and flowers in its second. These are photos from last night (it is at home now, not at the office):


It grew a spike, and awesome yellow flowers!


The twisty spikes are flowers about to bloom.

Not only is it not dead, my plumeria is a total overachiever! Skipped leaves, and went straight to flowering. What this means for its future, I don't know (child prodigies usually don't turn out well), but I am SO PLEASED. Seriously, just look at it! The flowers totally don't even look real. Hurray for tropical plants and honeymoon reminders!

So pretty

Currently Reading - Freedom

2011-08-25T08:07:00.000-07:00

So, you may or may not know that I am a total Kat Rosenfeld fangirl. She doesn't blog as much as she used to, but I've got her blog and her Tumblr feeds in my Google Reader, so I see it pretty quickly when she does. The husband does too (I got him hooked a while back).

So clearly, when she posted these book recommendations, I needed to check them out. Literally, from the library. Post haste. I logged onto the Ottawa Public Library website (which I love. I also love their app. Yay, technology!), figured out which ones were on the shelves at the library near us*, and requested the rest. I stopped at the library on my way home, and picked up the three in question (Freedom, My Year of Meats, and The Gargoyle), and headed home. When Tim got home, he saw the pile, looked at me, and was like "She posted those today!" It was pretty funny.

So! I'm currently reading Freedom, by Jonathan Franzen.

It's pretty good. I'm not in looooove with it, but I'm liking it, and definitely interested in giving it a chance. I think it's starting to pick up, which is nice. I'll let you know what I think when I finish!

*I LOVE living a 5-minute walk from the library. I lived right next to a library at my old place, too. No joke, when we move, proximity to a library would be a welcome feature in a new house.

Attack of the Yogurt Monster

2011-08-24T06:56:00.000-07:00

So, I've gotten in the habit of making deeeelicious smoothies in the morning. And I plan on keeping it up! But, a half a cup per day, this means that I go through a significant amount of plain yogurt (seriously. If someone were keeping an eye on our recycling, I don't know what they'd think). So when I saw a blog post about this recipe, I decided to give it a try. Worst case, I waste a bunch of milk. Best case, I become self-yogurt-sufficient!

So last night, I gave it a try. The milk took FOREVER to heat up (I ended up having to turn the crock pot up to high, because it was just not getting hot enough), but then took much less time to cool than mentioned in the recipe (which was nice, because I really didn't want to be up at midnight, turning hot milk into yogurt).

Milk, Crock Pot, Digital Thermometer, Recipe... ready to go!

After it was innoculated, I stuck the Crock Pot in the oven with the light on, and went to bed for a good night's sleep. I was a little nervous when I went to check on it this morning. Did it set?

Shroedinger's yogurt

When I took the yogurt out of the oven, it was still warm, but definitely yogurt-y! It's a bit thin tasting, so I think next time I'd use whole milk (we had 2% at home, so I used that), but I'll definitely be doing this again. It's way cheaper (about 2$ worth of milk for 2 quarts of yogurt, instead of about 3.50$ for 750ml!), and pretty low effort. Hurray!

Mmm, yogurt!

It's baaaaaaaack....

2011-08-24T06:30:00.000-07:00

I really should not be left unsupervised.

So, it turns out that now that I'm done with wedding planning (long engagements are nice, I guess, but it gave me way too much time to explore wedding options. I am never doing that again!), it turns out that I have lots of time to think about things. And notice stuff. And gradually, thoughts like "I could blog about that" started creeping into my head. And then I bought a smartphone (Android) with a data plan, and I bet I can blog from my phone, too.

So! I'm de retour, internet.