I should have packed a sweater...

I flew into Edmonton Saturday afternoon (after spending the first portion of the flight waiting on the runway for an hour until the airport found baggage handlers to come load our luggage and then having a flight-long conversation with my seatmate, an arborist, whese name I never got). I was picked up by my sister, and as all good vacations start we promptly went shopping. Saturday night we went to Taste of Edmonton, which was great, but Normands was out of buffalo kebobs, so I was bummed about that.

Yesterday we went to the Callingwood Farmer's Market, and I overcompensated for the lack of buffalo the night before by buying buffalo sausage and buffalo pepperoni (and chicken satay and teriyaki beef and one of those delicious and painfully sweet peanut butter marshmallow squares) Susan was also there selling her hot sauces so I got a sweet chili sauce and her "somewhat spicy hot sauce"

Have I mentioned how cold it is here yet? And rainy? It's like fall! I don't think I packed enough warm clothes. Good thing I've come prepared to shop! I think it only made it to about 13 degrees celsius yesterday, and it started pouring a little after lunch time. It's supposed to be cool and rainy all week, which makes me kind of happy, as I see that Philly is having disgusting heat and is under a heat advisory now. My folks and I and a family friend went around the city to see all six Front Yards in Bloom finalists. We had to make a couple of stops for people to pull on sweaters and socks. Nature can be very pretty, but by the last few houses Esther and I were staying in the car and experiencing nature from a dry distance. Today I wear my rainboots and carry an umbrella. Good thing I packed my rain gear!

Westward Ho!

I'm about to fly off for my annual pilgrimage to food festival mecca. If you're around Edmonton next week, drop me a line if you haven't already and schedule in some quality Dena time!

Happy birthday to me!

Yup, today is my actual birthday, even though due to scheduling we're not celebrating for a couple of weeks. I do have to go in to work, as I'm using all my vacation time next week to fly back home. But Karin is bringing me a birthday tiara to wear, so it will be a festive day nonetheless.

I love birthdays!

UPDATE: I just got a box in the mail at work. Inside was a set of founding father bobblehead dolls from Hyperion Books for Children. There's nothing else in the box, but I'm guessing I probably won them from ALA. What perfect timing, eh?












UPDATE: I have acheived birthday princess-hood with the addition of a birthday tiara:

Understated, yet fabulous
(and in the background you can just make out the four bobblehead dolls I got today)

Reading Terminal Market, how do I love thee?

I had my very first butcher experience this weekend. I fully believe that meat grows in plastic wrap at the grocery store, but Micaela decided to educate me otherwise and took me to her butcher at Reading Terminal Market. Super cheap ground lamb, custom cut stew meat, and the fun of watching the butcher flirt like crazy with Micaela. As an added bonus, the quality of the meat was superb.

We also went to Iovine's to pick up random vegetables and fruits. It's crazy cheap, and they had amazing mangoes on sale for 2/$1.49. But the best thing was the container of dried apple rings I picked up on a whim. Wow, those things are like crack! I just went back today to get two more containers because they disappear way too fast. I'm taking a chance and trying the dried pears as well. Yes, my life is that exciting.

p.s. Happy Birthday Jen!

Two things learned before breakfast today

One: It is wise to follow the directions on the side of the migraine medication bottle. I took a couple of pills at five this morning on an empty stomach and although the headache is gone, it has been replaced with an awful queasiness. When something tells you to take with food, it's a good idea to follow the instructions.

Two: While wearing a 50's-style skirt, avoid walking over air vents. I had an unexpected Marilyn Monroe incident this morning on the way to work, so my lesson is learned.

Books of the Week

So far this week I've read two very good books. They're both continuations of series (one much more so than the other) and they both kept me up way too late reading them.


First we have Kushiel's Scion by Jacqueline Carey. Carey wrote a magnificent trilogy a few years ago about a kind of alternate renaissance Europe, full of political machinations, intrigue, treachery, sex, and grand battles. This is the first of a new trilogy that moves the narration from Phedre (the heroine of the first trilogy) to Imriel (her adopted son). I recommend reading the first trilogy (Kushiel's Dart, Kushiel's Chosen, Kushiel's Avatar) before this one. This is a series you really do have to read in order.


Second is Anybody Out There? by Marian Keyes. This book is the fourth to follow the Walsh sisters of Dublin. This time it's Anna who gets her own book. It's hard to explain this one without giving away the plot twists, but Anna has sustained some serious injuries and her husband isn't returning any of her emails or calls. Keyes' books about the Walsh sisters transcend the stereotypical chick-lit genre. Other books about the Walshes include Watermelon, Rachel's Holiday, and Angels. It doesn't much matter which order you read these books, but chronologically (and publication date-wise) Watermelon is first.

And on a totally unrelated note, it is stupid hot outside today. High of 38 Celsius (99 Fahrenheit). And humid. I can't wait for autumn!

Great animation

The National Film Board of Canada just made available online 50 classic animated shorts. It's free to view, and they've got some great ones to see, like "The Cat Came Back" which totally creeped me out as a kid, and still does to this day.

I saw Christopher, Please Clean Up Your Room! at the ALA/CLA conference in Toronto a few years ago (I also totally scared my hero, Robert Munsch, at the same conference). I still love it, so check it out and see why. This one is for mom and dad, who spent years trying to get me to clean my room!

Birthday girl!

I have a birthday coming up (July 26th, party on August 11th), and for those of you who feel the need to get me a present (although it's not necessary), I've tried to make the job easier for you by making a registry that has some of the types of things I like on it to give you an idea. Check it out!

Petty Theft...

...or, yet another straw on the back of my faith in the inherent goodness of humanity.

Today I went to the laundromat. I've been following the same routine for over five years now - Wash clothes while reading, then put them in the dryer and go to the grocery store to do some shopping in the 28 minutes before the dry cycle is done. I leave my little old lady laundry cart, laundry bags, and detergent in the laundromat while I do this. I've never had a problem before. Today when I got back from stocking up on summer essentials (2 pints of blueberries, mango nectar, apricot nectar, and blackcurrant nectar) someone had walked off with my laundry detergent! There was only one person in the laudromat when I left, and no-one when I got back. The laundry lady who runs the place didn't notice him take it, but she said no-one else had come in while I was gone for 15 minutes.

So, Mr. Bright yellow shirt and dreadlocks, I hope you enjoy your 2/3 empty bottle of detergent.

Anyone have an empty laundry detergent jug I can have instead of you throwing it out?

Kitten!

Sally and Mark have a new kitten. He doesn't have a name yet, but from the list that they have, I like Tinkertoy the best (what makes that even cuter, Tinker is the kitten's mother). I snapped a few pictures with my crappy-ass cell phone camera today, so here are some pictures of the new cutest kitten in the world (sorry, Widget):

Ick

Our plucky and intrepid library volunteer Julia is going through all our videotapes checking circ stats. This morning she opened "On the Beach" and found a dead squashed cockroach. EW!

And oddly appropriate for it to be that movie, considering that they'll supposedly be the only things left alive after a nuclear war.

Essential safety equipment

For those of you addicted to Blackberries, Sidekicks, and other like them - you might need this:

An Inconvenient Truth

I just got back from seeing the movie "An Inconvenient Truth". Remember the feeling you had in junior high school (and I'm dating myself here) when you were absolutely positive that there would be a nuclear war in our lifetime? That's kind of the feeling I got watching this movie. It's not nuclear war, but it's something big and scary, and ultimately, something we have some control over.

I just switched my electricity from conventional fossil fuel to wind-power, and I'm going to go shopping for energy efficient light bulbs this week. Go see the movie and see what little things you can do to help stop global warming.

Happy Canada Day!

Happy 139th!

And in "how many people can you stuff in a phone booth" news, improbably I can fit 17 people in my living room.