Update # 2 - January

So, the contract has started. I have been running around trying to sort out the details and logistics of getting hardware and furniture in place. I have been scouring craigslist religiously, and have managed to source all my desks in the past month. I seem to be taking them off the hands of those moving, downsizing, or reconfiguring their spaces.

The trouble with craigslist is that I have now cultivated a bit of an addiction to it. I find myself looking for items I have recently bought, and I need to fight a compulsion to buy in excess every time I see one. It is absolutely crazy. And I love it.

Another malady has surfaced now that I am here: IKEA As-Is sectionitis. I drop in every couple of days (it's only two blocks from here) just to peruse IKEA's marked down junk. I almost buy things, but then back out. It is such a waste of time I am thinking of sanctioning myself.

There has been a lot of upheaval in my life, given the move to Kelowna from Victoria, and now the working in the Vancouver area. I have landed sublets for the duration I think I will be here (to April 30), but I am trying to still build something resembling a life in the Okanagan. Getting back to Kelowna involves a four-hour drive over the second highest pass in BC (1728m - I have seen the sign so often it is etched into my head, probably taking up the space where that person's name I just met is supposed to be). It is nice to go back for weekends, but the commute is getting longer and longer. I think I will try to limit my trips to twice a month, though Friday nights at Sturgeon Hall will be missed.

Update #1 - To Christmas

Sorry to all for neglecting my blog for the past while. So much has been happening that I haven't had time to catch up. So here's update #1, which I suppose will take me roughly to Christmas.

I won a contract in the lower mainland, which had me careening back and forth between Kelowna and Vancouver. This is the first step out working as an independent company, so there's plenty that needed done. The contract involves a backfile conversion, bringing approximately ten years of paper archives into digital format. I hope to not be the one actually doing the work, but I am so hands-on I doubt I will sleep if I don't. Luckily, I was able to secure some reliable help in a hurry - a good old friend moving back from Ontario agreed to assist.

Not three days after getting to Kelowna, I won a snowboard in a bar (of ill-repute). But hey, beggars can't be choosers, and I didn't even know where we were going (being led by Joel). The large, tall stage tipped me off once we were there. Anyways, I have only been back once since, and that was the next day to pick up the board. I didn't get the rest of the gear until Xmas, so I didn't take advantage of the great conditions early in the season.

More children to report - Ruby Eileen Marshall arrived in early December, and Graeme and Ali are doing well. Ryan and AM are expecting, as are Lucky and Nancy. Oh, and Brendan and Simone. And, as of early December, my sister was too.

Sometime when I was in Vancouver, my mom was told about some concerns on her last mammogram. They performed the biopsy, and everyone was on pins and needles before the holidays. The only gift we wanted was for my Mom to be well. And that was the gift we got - no calcification outside the duct (I did know what that meant at the time). That was the highlight of Christmas for everyone, as we rested in our separate ways - Pam, Alex, and Sonja in Vancouver (awaiting a family addition, due January 1), and me, Mom, Dad, and D drinking our fair share while playing poker with Joel on Christmas eve. I lost quite handily both times, but I would wish for that kind of Christmas every year, hands down.