Worth sharing

Yesterday's quote, from my Women's Quote of the Day calendar (thanks Trace!):

"I don't have pet peeves like some people. I have whole kennels of irritation."
-- Whoopie Goldberg.

A look in

I got the idea from Tertia's blog: it's a Johari Window, an opportunity to tell me how you see me, and how I see myself. Interesting stuff. Wanna play?

New word

Not Brett, this time I'm the one who invented a new word: celecrated. Any idea what it means? I'm thinking something to do with celebrating by destroying. Your thoughts?

Music to a vegetarian mother's ears

"More tofu please Mommy."

It's bloody cold

Look at the weather window on the left. It's cold. Bloody cold. As I write this, the temperature in Cochrane is -25. On my way in to work, the radio weather guy said that with the wind chill, it felt like -38 downtown.

I knew the weather gods were being kind to me on my first Alberta winter, but their attention must be elsewhere at the moment.

For those of you who haven't lived through an Alberta winter lately, I'll share what I've learned:

• Any car left outside in this cold will grow a thick layer of ice that must be scraped off before anything even resembling normal visibility is achieved (even if the night has been precipitation-free). If there has been precipitation, you have to brush that off first, then scrape.


• All cars left outside at night (see above) must also be plugged in, or presumably chaos will ensue. All I know is, every night I'm asked "Did you plug the van in?" If I didn't, straws are drawn (or bargains made) and the van gets plugged in (if I didn't get a spot in the garage, that is). To the wall of course. Where the plug goes under the hood I'm not really sure. But I'm pretty sure the plug plays a significant part in keeping hell from freezing over.
  


• The plugging in thing goes for during the day too. When I started this job I was surprised to see posts with outlets in the parking lot. I'm plugged in today.
  


• You know how it's called static electricity? In the dark here, you can actually see the sparks. I'm not kidding. I keep my fleece jammies and Brett's blankie away from the piles of used kleenex. (Makes me wonder if semi-dried-up snot would stop the flames?)
  


• Unmittened hands will start to ache in 2.5 seconds in minus 16 or below. That's for adults. Two-year-olds who don't like wearing their warm winter jackets, hats or mittens will pretty much ache all the time. Except if they like their boots. Then their feet will be ok (at least until they get into the van and kick them off).


• Nylon coats get stiff and crinkly at about -5. Makes me wonder if my hood is going to break off every time I get into the van.
  

Some of his favourite things

Brett suddenly has favourites. Last night, Toy Story 2 (which he had never seen before) was his "fav'ite movie." In the past week he's had "fav'ite" shirts, cookies, books and toys.

I'm certain he doesn't know what it means. I mean, how could a movie he's never even seen be his favourite? And how could he have a favourite book one minute, and a different one the next?

I fear I may have been the one who put the idea into his head without really explaining it. I know I said about My Oh My Oh dinosaurs, when he chose it as a bedtime book three or four nights in a row, "That's your favourite book lately, isn't it?" And when trying to dress him quickly one day, I offered his Calgary ABC shirt: "It's your favourite!"

Does it matter that he has more than one favourite dinner? As long as he eats, the Jewish mother in me says (echoed by Baba, I bet). Maybe I'll teach him how to spell favourite and explain the importance of "ou." Maybe "favourite" can be his favourite word for a while.

I feel so at home

I've been asked for more details about my job, but instead I'm going to tell you why I feel so at home here. The truth is, there are a few people who remind me of someone else I know.

First of all, my boss Colleen, the one with whom I had my first interview, reminds me of my friend Heather. They're physically alike, but more than that, they're both very smart, respected and good at their jobs. They each have two kids and struggle with the day-to-day challenges of being a good parent and partner.

Jody, HR manager in my department, reminds me of my old neighbour Kristen. She works in the same industry and has the same reaction to higher-ups who don't appear to know what they're doing: attitude, verbal expletives and dramatic eye rolling. No idea if Jody's husband is bald.

I see my friend Dawn McV in two people: Margo, one of the campus planners is an outspoken redhead who knows her stuff, works hard, respects those in authority if they deserve it and doesn't take any crap. Caroline is Dawn's softer side. We bonded over books and music and the great inside scoop she gave me about others in the office. Caroline is smart, efficient and completely under-appreciated.