As of today, there is one month left until Christmas, and only 12 days left until the beginning of Hanukkah. Tomorrow is US Thanksgiving and the traditional start to the holiday sales season happens Friday with the retail event known as Black Friday. Most of the people celebrate something in and around December / January so it’s a busy time of year. Between family events, social events, work related events, and school concerts my December calendar is looking very full indeed.
Word Wednesday – New Beginnings
Canada got a new Prime Minister today. Just 16 days after Canadians voted decisively for real change, Justin Trudeau was sworn in as Canada’s 23rd Prime Minister at Rideau Hall this morning. While not everyone is happy about this (but honestly no government will ever please everyone), I am excited for the change. I think that the gender equal cabinet (there are 15 female cabinet ministers – the largest percentage of women ever) that is also the most diverse cabinet ever is going to ultimately be a good thing. It’s not like cabinets in recent memory have ever been about putting only the most qualified people into the portfolio that most suited them. There has always been an element of regional parity in cabinet making which already hampers the “best person for every position” philosophy, and I don’t think that any of the 14 women chosen weren’t qualified for their portfolio (besides, the only portfolio that you really need prior qualifications for is Finance IMHO).
Word Wednesday – Decaf edition
All my life I’ve been a tea drinker. There are pictures of me with tea in my bottle (thanks grandma!) and with my British heritage, not drinking tea wasn’t an option. I came to coffee very late in the game. I was well into my 30s before I could stand the taste of non-specialty coffee. You know, the kind without all the artificial flavours and sweeteners that costs an arm and a leg and has half of your daily calories in a venti? Yeah those didn’t count in my “I don’t drink coffee” phase. Now, I quite enjoy a nice cup of coffee with milk and a very small amount of sugar with my breakfast. Until Wednesday that is. I’d brewed a pot of coffee, and gone to my “office” (currently the couch in the family room in the morning because the dog likes to snuggle beside me and I quite enjoy that) when I caught whiff of the unmistakable aroma of burning plastic. The coffee maker had set itself on fire. The torrential deluge we experienced was good for something as I took out the carafe and put the whole thing outside on the porch, then dropped it into the bin once it was well and truly out. I should mention that the fire was contained inside the machine at the time.
Word Wednesday – chaotic edition
I’m not sure if this happens to everyone but every time I head to a conference, like the fabulous Blissdom Canada Conference, I return to utter chaos. It’s not necessarily the house (though it wasn’t as orderly as I’d left it), it’s more that my life seems to be tossed upside down by the new things I learn at the conference. [Read more…]
Word Wednesday #BlissDom Canada ’15 edition
It’s no secret that I’m an introvert by nature. I like people and once I’m comfortable with you, I’ll never shut up, but groups of people, make me seriously nervous. I get overwhelmed and then all I can think about is running away and hiding in a corner. Give me a group big enough that I can’t possibly interact with all of the individual members though, and I’m perfectly fine. I loved lecturing to large undergraduate classes, but for the first few weeks of classes, whenever I had to lead a small group seminar I wanted to hurl. Fortunately, I never did, and by all accounts I was really good at being a Teaching Assistant – at least if my feedback sheets were anything to go by. [Read more…]
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