Do I have at least 5 readers? hmm

From Ciboulette:

The first five people who comment here will get something I make. Could be a real life thing. Could be imaginary. Depends on what I think you will like and my inspirations. (Note, it’s going to be something I think you will like. Actual liking not guaranteed!)

The only real rule is that you have to make this offer in your own web log.

Holly

On Saturday at 11am I went to pick up the new member of our family. We decided to name her Holly, after all, so thanks Amanda for the idea. It seemed to suit her very well. She is a lot of work but very fun and playful. She likes to "dig", although there is no dirt to dig in so she does it in her blanket and so far seems to always pee on her pee pad and not on the floor. She also likes to go inside the cubby holes in our coffee table and try to launch herself onto the couch from there. So far, I haven't managed to get her to sleep all night by herself. She likes to crawl in under my chin or fall asleep on my arm, which makes it comfy for her, but a little hard for me to sleep. But, since Mike is away for two weeks on the island, it makes for something to snuggle.

I had a great video of her attacking a wrapping paper roll, but for some reason it won't load!

Warmth at last!

Today was such a wonderful day. Yesterday too. The thermometer was above 0! It's so exciting. After a full month of -25 or -30 it is now warm and sunny. The high for tomorrow is expected at around 8 degrees, which is literally unheard of for January. Last winter it was cold but there were always the -10 days where you could warm up a bit before it got back into the 30s. But this winter has been gloomy and cold. There haven't been many blue sky days or snowy cozy days, it's just been extreme cold and grey skies. I actually wore a skirt today, with no nylons! Or long johns for that matter. It's amazing how much I took for granted being able to have some skin exposed to the sun. No wonder we all take vitamin D up north.

It put me in such a good mood that I took my class outside yesterday for a walk. We had a contest to see who could hit the flagpole with a snowball. So much fun.

I'm also excited because I'm getting my puppy tomorrow and it will be warm enough to take her outside. I've already spoiled her with a very cool bed/house and lots of puppy toys. It's amazing what you can get for a dog!

Anyways, the weather is looking up for the north and this makes today a good day.

Happy weekending.

Book list 2008

I've compiled the list of books that I read in 2008 and discovered I didn't read that many! Or perhaps I'm forgetting some, I don't know. But, here are the books read on my own and with my book club, in order of least favourite to most favourite.
However, I really enjoyed the top 10.

13) Divisadero
12) Flowers for Algernon
11) The Catcher in the Rye
10) An Audience of Chairs
09) The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove
08) The tales of Beedle the Bard
07) Magyk: First book in the Septimus Heap series
06) The Book Thief
05) The thirteenth tale
04) The Illuminator
03) Late Nights on Air
02) The God of small things
01) Outlander

I can't think of all the authors off the top of my head, so I didn't write them. But, if you want to read any of them I can find the author for you! They were all good reads, but as you can see Diana Gabaldon still topped them all for me!

Currently, my book club is reading "The magician's assistant" by Ann Patchett and I am also reading "Inkdeath" by Cornelia Funke.

Big changes for 2009

I'm sitting here in my office, where for the first time I am able to open the blinds and look out at the perfect blue sky and the tops of snow covered fields. For months it has been so cold that I couldn't stand to come in the office. It's the coldest room in the house, with two outside walls. Not to mention the fact that it's been on average around -25 to -35 for the last month. But today the sun has come out and the weather man predicted a high of -4! This is very exciting to me, especially as I am currently red and itchy and cracked all over from the dry, dry, cold air. Having your fireplace and your heat running all day long really does a number to your skin.

This is all to say that I am finally catching up on my blog. It's saturday morning, I'm rested and have nothing I have to be doing. Mike is at work and I've got lovely view out my window. So, what's been happening?

Well, Christmas break was wonderful. I got some much needed sleep and time to hang out with Mike, read books, play wii and have movie nights with my friends. The highlight was spending time with my sisters and my mom. We haven't all been together for almost two years.





So, since I was only home until Christmas eve, we had a pretend Christmas eve on the 22nd and then opened presents on the 23rd, followed by a turkey dinner and open house at Mike's mom's house that evening.

The nightmare was getting home. We made the trip through the blizzard to YVR and then were about to check our bags when our flight status flipped to 'cancelled'. After talking with a very helpful (sarcasm) air canada employee, we were told that the next flight was Christmas morning, but only one of us could get on and the other would have to fly out Christmas night. Since Mike had to work Christmas morning, he was going to take the flight and I would have spent Christmas by myself in the airport. So, we spent 900$ to fly on West jet to the closest available city to DC, which is Prince George. Then, our wonderful friends Glen and Kyla saved us by agreeing to drive the 400km's on Christmas Eve to come and get us. We made it home by 7:13 Christmas morning, slept for a few hours and then Mike went to work. It was a long drive through the Pine Pass surrounded by Moose and coyotes and bears, but we were just glad to be back in our own home for Christmas.

And now we're back to the regular working, etc. But, I do have some exciting news. No, we are not having a baby. But, I was offered a new job for next semester. I only have 1 block of french, so I was only part time again, but beginning in February, I will be the new Music Theater director for the high school. The teacher is currently very pregnant and will only be teaching for another week or so, and unfortunately they couldn't find anyone with theater training to replace her. I actually didn't even apply for the job, but they offered it to me so I accepted. It makes me full time for the rest of the year, which is awesome as it will help me to fund my travels and also to pay off my student loan faster. It's going to be a TON of work though, as I will be in charge of the musical production at the end of the year. We're doing High School Musical, so it should be fun. I also have a student director, a music teacher, a student dance choreographer and a costume designer to work with, so I'm not alone, otherwise there's no way I would have been able to do it.

Also new for 2009 is that we are getting a puppy. She's a miniature daschund and is very adorable. We should be getting her in a couple of weeks. Here is a picture:



But, I could use some help naming her. Any suggestions?

Well, I think that's all my news so far. How have your New Year's begun?