Merry Christmas!

The 'm' key on my laptop is sticking, so I'm lucky this post isn't called "erry Christas."  :)

Happy holidays, whichever one you celebrate.  I'm not entirely sure what I celebrate, but I found myself whispering "thank you" several times today.  I'm in Saskatoon this year and had a lovely day.  A few co-workers gave me their cell numbers in case I had a breakdown on Christmas day and needed to hang with people to battle the blues, but I really enjoyed my solitude today.  And it fit nicely with the Queen's Christmas message this year.  She spoke of making time for quiet reflection in order to pause and take stock, adding that it can be surprisingly rewarding.  Amen, sister. Liz is my kind of people.  Today I had a nice lie-in, spoke to my family at home on Skype, then went for a long, quiet walk on the Meewasin.  I always feel the most gracious, humble, and happy when I'm in the presence of trees, water, and birds.  Like I said, "thank you" slipped out a number of times today.

Pretty, huh?  And it was only -7 today!  I didn't even need mittens on the way home.

I also celebrated with a good meal...which will turn into many leftover meals. Crikey.  My nut loaf recipe said "serves 4 to 6," but it yielded three decent sized loaves.  Light it ain't, a little bit will do, so I'm trying to figure out if I can freeze the extras.  They don't look super fantastic in this picture (is any loaf attractive?  I think not), but it was delicious alongside roasted squash, brussel sprouts, potatoes, and homemade cranberry sauce.  Throw in a fake trifle and a cup of cream earl grey tea, and I'm one stuffed, content woman.  I mentioned to a friend at home I feel like I should be smoking a cigar and sipping brandy after that dinner...

The cats don't give two flying whatevers about holidays, because everyday is a holiday when you're a geriatric feline.  Cameron and Cleo are also big into quiet reflection, so they made the most of the day with extended naps and meditative moments.  Cameron was sleeping in some strange places, though.  Often it means that he's not feeling well, but I think today it was just his way of keeping me guessing.

I think it's time for more quiet reflection, avec cuddly cat, so I'll say good night.  I hope you had a wonderful day.  Mwah!

Decisions, decisions

So tired.  So very tired.  I really enjoyed my first week as a librarian, but I'm totally wrecked.  If Cleo hadn't woken me up at 6:15am with some negative attention seeking behaviour I would have slept straight through to sunrise (which, if you're wondering, doesn't happen here until after 9am these days).  The first two days of my new job were pretty quiet, then things got kind of nuts on Wednesday.  My desk reflected my state of mind...

It's okay now, I organized before I left for the weekend...but I was a bit concerned for a while that it was going to eat me.

I went to my first committee meeting (my tummy hurt through the whole thing, but I was fine after it was over), and got a fast and dirty introduction to coordinating the exhibits in the art gallery in the fine arts department.  This was also the first week in a long time (maybe ever) that I had to make decisions that held some weight.  There weren't a lot of them and they weren't that 'heavy', but when one is used to being more of a follower than a leader making even two or three simple decisions can be daunting.  Then I saw the words "building supervisor" on the January schedule with my name next to it and I just about had a stroke.  Oh lordy...  Thankfully, it's the weekend and now all I have to decide is what pair of pyjamas I want to wear for my greatly anticipated snuggle under the duvet tonight and when to head out to the grocery store tomorrow.  I also have a number of tools at hand that will help me unwind.  Which to choose...hmmm...

I think it's quite clear from this photo that I've opted for wine with my dinner.  My best screw cap, in a juice glass.  Nothing but class. (Don't judge me.  I haven't had time to buy wine glasses.)

This new librarian also wants to draw your attention to a wonderful shout-out from CBC's Jian Ghomeshi, who devoted his opening essay today to the library.   Three Canadian public libraries made the top 5 in a list of best libraries in the world, which just about blew my socks off.  Amazing.  You can listen to the audio essay here http://www.cbc.ca/q/blog/2013/12/20/q-essay-three-cheers-for-libraries/  Seriously, if I didn't think Jian was super hot before, I sure do now.  Meow.

Hurray!

Looks like I'm stuck with Saskatoon, or Saskatoon is stuck with me: I was offered and accepted the position of Fine Arts Librarian at SPL!  This is a permanent, full-time job so I'll be a prairie girl for the foreseeable future.  I'm so happy and excited...what a wonderful opportunity to make use of my experience and knowledge!  I'll be responsible for our collection of scores/sheet music and other music materials, as well as print items in the subject areas of theatre, television, film, decorative arts, and crafts, and coordinate activities in the art gallery (gallery openings = good food).  I'll be on a few committees as well, with my first meeting next Tuesday, and have already been asked to lead a drop-in class for adults about using one or two electronic fine arts resources.  I'm quite nervous about being the back-up supervisor for the department, but it appears that I'll be eased into things rather than thrown into the deep end, so there's no need to panic.  It's funny, I remember December 12 last year very clearly, as it was 12/12/12, and would never have been able to predict that this would be my life in just twelve months, especially considering how miserable/exhausted/scared I was feeling.  Crazy good stuff, I'm so thankful. 

The holidays are coming and I'll be staying in Saskatoon for Christmas.  Introvert Jenn is eagerly anticipating a few days of peaceful solitude during which she can read, listen to music, nap, walk by the river (which is still not frozen, by the way...how can it be this bloody cold and not freeze over???), and make some great comfort meals.  The cats are excited too...they've already started working on the napping thing...

Okay.  They've been working on the napping thing for well over a decade, but they take relaxation very seriously and insist on setting a good example.  :)

Cameron did not look that relaxed this morning.  He met his new vet today and though we were out of the house for a mere 45 minutes, he managed to throw up AND pee in his carrier.  Drama queen.  The vet did a fast and dirty blood test on him and my old boy has been given a clean bill of health.  His thyroid is just dandy on his meds, so hopefully we don't need to go through that production again for a while.  Cleo (aka Princess of the Prairies) is happily putting in some serious snuggling time every night.  We have a routine: I fill the humidifier tank while she drinks out of the base, then we get into bed for girl time.  It's all very sweet, until I get a cat bum in the face...

Bundle up and be brave

I'm scared to go outside today.  There have been wind chill warnings for the past few nights; if it feels like -40 or colder, the warning gets posted.  Right now it feels like -44!  I have my three day weekend (I get one once a month) and the only time I stepped outside yesterday was to take out the garbage and recycling.  It took me longer to get dressed than to complete the chore!  I spent the rest of the day cleaning.  If this is what winter is going to be like out here I'll have the cleanest apartment in town.  Today I really have to go out because I've got an appointment with my new BodyTalk practitioner.  I went last week and immediately felt different (I'm not going to say 'better' because I'm apparently really out of whack...oh joy), so I want things to keep moving forward with that.  She seemed to zone in quickly on some problems I've been having and we're going to create a plan to deal with them, which is going to take some time.  *sigh*  So I'll be dressing warmly when I head out to meet her today, looking very much like this...

I know.  I can tell that you're envious.

There are some developments on the work front here, but I can't talk too much about them until sometime next week.  I'll keep you posted.  Don't worry, it's all positive.  :)