Thursday, December 15, 2011

Tea parties, tables and linens, oh my!

R and I sat down this morning and had a chat about how the logistics of the big day will pan out. I've kind of hit a brick wall in terms of planning, because things either don't need to be done now, I'm waiting to hear from someone, or I couldn't figure something out, so I just gave up.

My main issue with the logistics was trying to figure out how to have the tea party part while not having to reset the entire room for dinner later on. After discussing, we decided that the only logical way to get through this is to have double the tables, get some cute flowery/printed (ie, not the plain white of the rental places) table cloths, and convince a cousin, uncle or two (or three, or four!) to pack up the chairs from the ceremony to closer to the lodge. It makes way more sense - decorating will be easy - we'll just use the same flowers from inside, and then the china teacups will be a decoration of sorts too. I think it'll work way better than my original plan (inside tea party).. the only thing now is to figure out how many tables we can beg/borrow/steal, and if we need to rent extras.

A major benefit to this is that the tea party will sort of serve as the 'receiving line' and we (and guests) will have a way better time mingling around and chatting with people. The lodge inside doesn't really allow for that all that much, so this is way better.

So.. if anyone has any collapsible tables (in any size) let me know!

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Work, work, work, all day long

Exciting update to my previous "should i stay or should i go now" post..

After some wicked "get laid off, don't quit" advice from my parents (seriously. they're fantastic!) I decided to wait it out, see what was going to happen with me saying no to the scary winter work, and see if I could infact, get laid off. Not that getting laid off and having no work is a really ideal situation, but at least that way I can claim EI. Woohoo.

I had a meeting with one of the important people last week, and basically she said that they kind of figured that I wouldn't be comfortable with the work, and that was fine. (Quite thankful for this - means a good reference. I think that being too wimpy to do something is way better than being ballsy and sucking at it/getting hurt.) Unfortunately, given that we're biologists, winter is pretty slow in the office.. so, they'll give me work when they can, and when they have nothing left, they'll get me my ROE, so I can go on the aforementioned EI.

I'm fine with this; obviously I kind of want to leave the company anyways, so she said to let them know if I find anything else, and if not, we'll see about the spring. Work out well for me, other than not having nice paycheques. Oh well. I worked one day last week, and two this week, and then ran out of work.. I had two days off where I spent time with R and went for brunch with some friends, finally got some more Christmas shopping done, and then came home to an email today asking me to come in tomorrow. As much as it kinda sucks to not really know when I'm working next, having some "me" time is really nice.

So. That's where I currently stand. Somewhat, but not really employed. Good reference. Here's hoping that in this time that I have off, I'll be able to find a wicked job in early spring, and go back to having real money.

Monday, December 5, 2011

Book list update

Woohoo, another update to what I've read this year!

Metamorphosis - Jack Whyte (book II of the Sorcerer, and book 6 in the Dream of Eagles cycle). I enjoyed this one too...

The Help - Kathryn Stockett - This was a book club book, and although only two of us showed up to the meeting, we both really liked it. I've heard that the movie is good too, so maybe sometime this week/weekend I'll watch it. I would definitely recommend this book, especially if you enjoy women's rights, equal rights etc.

Have a Little Faith - Mitch Albom. I picked this up from the biography section of the library, and was happy that it was a quick, although engaging story. The writing was good and the characters well described.

The Collector - Jack Nisbet. My mom told me about this one. It's the story of David Douglas - the botanist and person who collected and described a huge number of plants in the Pacific Northwest. It was interesting to read about places that I've been, through someones journal from almost 200 years ago. Being the nerdy plant lover that I am, it was also interesting to read and guess at which plants he was talking about, and even realize that he named many of them. This is the Douglas of Douglas-fir, and many plants ending with "douglasii". There was lots of journal entries and quotes from letters scattered throughout, too. Very good, but probably mostly recommended to plant lovers or naturalists.