I sit here struggling against utter exhaustion, awaiting the next board meeting I need to attend. So, knowing that I haven't posted since last week, I thought I'd type a little bit about one of the more busy weeks and weekends I've had a chance to enjoy.
Last weekend was the Kiwanis Club of Edmonton Young Professionals' 2nd annual Holiday potluck, which also doubled as a send off for one of our members who is spending 5 weeks in New Zealand/Australia. Given that she departed early Saturday morning, she missed much of the ridiculously cold weather that we were treated to that weekend. And I braved the weather twice: first to attend the Edmonton Journal Book Fair, and second to attend my work Christmas party. At the Christmas party we had a lot of fun with Name that Tune and associated activities, AND I won a 42 TV. It made the venturing out into the cold worthwhile!
Monday the 14th was the Kiwanis Club of Edmonton's annual Christmas Luncheon where I got to sing some carols, eat good food, listen to some great music, and spend time with awesome Kiwanians.
The rest of the week consisted of final obligations for the school term, and a bunch of research meetings, in addition to finishing my Christmas shopping and taking the time to relax and just take in the holiday season (and continue ripping my CDs to my computer, as I still hadn't done this until now.
I got to see Heather and Jason late in the week — it was fabulous catching up and Heather gave me the most excellent of Christmas gifts: a crocheted hat that matches my scarf, and a book keeper. We had some great discussions (and she helped me figure out some aspects of my phone).
Saturday (yesterday) I met up with friends to see a film at the Stanley Milner Main Branch of the Edmonton Public Library. It was an odd film — not one of my favorites, but entertaining none the less. We stopped for gelato afterward at Caffe Sorentino in the mall, before heading over to the Bissell Centre Gift Wrap to see how they were doing.
I headed home next to tend to my stomach (I'm doing a very good job of forgetting to eat regularly now that school's over for the semester, oups!) and catch up on some internet stuff before heading out again: this time to Slepp and Vicky's Ecksmas party. And I've gotta say that that was one great holiday party: lots of yummy food, excellent guests, and a rousing game of Things among other things. We even played Rock Band for a bit near the end of the night. Regardless, I'm so very happy to have met the great people that I met at this gathering, and to see those I already knew so close to Christmas. I had a splendid evening.
Waking up this morning however was another story… suffice to say I had not gotten anywheres close to enough sleep. Which didn't bother me until now really… and I might just be tired from my trek outdoors (though I doubt it). You see, I volunteered the last day of the South Edmonton Kiwanis Christmas Tree Lot, but my Google Transit application on my phone gave me crappy walking directions to the site, and I began having breathing problems. It had been at least 6 months since I had run into this much difficulty breathing. Fortunately I got to the lot, had a blast helping sell the last of the trees and got back home long before my shift was scheduled to end.
And now, I'm caught up on my online hobbies for the time being. I'm probably a bit too tired to do effective research work by this point, but it's been a marvelous day regardless. Thank goodness for good experiences! It's been an excellent pre-Christmas weekend.