Friday Five

1. We’re going on holiday all next week, to the family cabin on Powell Lake. We’ll have three nights on our own and then the crowds descend, bringing with them chaos, merriment, lots of junk food and a participation-mandatory Talent Show. There are challenges to holidaying with a self-destructive toddler in a cabin that floats on thirty feet of water, but I generally try to forget that part and focus on how good it makes my soul feel that my daughter gets to vacation at the same blissful spot my sister and I used to spend our summers. Plus, this year I have an ace up my sleeve: a teenage girl at a nearby cabin has agreed to babysit for a couple of hours a day, so there might actually be some VACATION in this vacation. I might even get to read a book! I am giddy at the mere idea of such decadence.


2. Due to impending vacation, I’ve been working my tail off on writing my first essay for the Popular Culture & Media course I’m taking. That combined with packing has left this blog pretty quiet this past week, and for that I apologize. And now that I’m going off on holidays, well, get ready for another week of quiet! I’m planning a little surprise for you guys, but I have no idea if you’ll enjoy it or not. There is no web access whatsoever at our cabin, so no new posts all next week. And then all I’ll do for the next several posts is post pictures of our holiday with accompanying wistful sighs. Because I care.


3. My new workplace sponsored me to take Microsoft Access training over the past several weeks. I just finished writing the exam and got 93%. This is a victory for many reasons, one of which is that at my previous job, I was expected to build and maintain databases despite my total lack of training, and when I begged and pleaded to take some kind of course they refused to entertain the idea. Now I have been with the new department for less than 6 months and they have already invested money in my training and knowledge, ensuring that I feel like a full-fledged member of the team and will accordingly work with great dedication for them. I should mention that both my new job and my old job are with the same government agency, so really, it’s hard to believe that one department has so much more funding than another. Do you think it would be too cheeky to send a copy of my certification to my old boss?


4. Despite my vitriol of last week, I do often watch movies that I really like and that do not offend me at all. One of these is Babel, which Chris and I watched on the one night this week that was not taken up by essay-writing, packing, or other commitments. It was a great film with fascinating and thought-provoking themes. Go watch it – you know, if you didn’t already do so, given that it came out four years ago. Yeah, I’m a bit behind the curve. (Also good: The Soloist.)


5. Something so unbelievable has happened in my house. For the first time four or five years, I have a spot all my own. Those of you who know me have doubtless heard me complain that “Gwen has a room; Chris has a room (his office); but I don’t have a room.” I still don’t have a room all to myself, but I have a TABLE all to myself, and there is a door that closes so that the toddler can’t come mess up my stuff. This is a marvellous place for me to work on cards and other craft projects and also to write essays. I am eternally grateful to Chris who was able to make this work after we had a good conversation about what it meant that he “supports my decision to go back to school”. Now if I could just get him to stop leaving random stuff on here, I’d be completely tickled.