Should I stay or should I go now?

The point of this blog was to write.. tell someone what I'm reading, what my life goals are, and how I'm doing at achieving them, to write down feelings and thoughts. I'm not very good at that last part, but at the moment, I'm in the mood to write.. or at least tell someone other than the normal people (who will read this anyway) how I'm feeling.

I hate my job right now. Or more, I hate the idea of having to work in reallly cold temperatures (-30 or so), alone, and on a snowmobile. Working alone to me is just a bit sketchy, and I know that I wouldn't push myself to get work done faster. In the summer, maybe. In the winter, when my toes are numb, my hands are frozen and don't feel like they belong on me, and my eyelashes stick together, there is no way that I'd be pushing myself that hard. Not to mention that I'm not super comfortable on snowmobiles (or at least, I'm not that comfortable on quads as of now, and I'm betting that after this week and the course this weekend I still won't be that happy on snowmobiles). These three things are making me want to quit my job. Of course, there's things with management that definitely drive me insane, but one of the people that stresses me out the most is going on mat leave for a year. I don't know if I should just wait it out and see if there's any more work that doesn't involve being up here, or if I should just say, hey, that's it, I'm done. I want to be done for several reasons: management isn't the best. Not even close. The commute is lame enough to need to go to bed early and get up early, leaving only weekends for social times. I don't know if there's even work for me if I tell them I'm not going on the next trips up here. I just don't know. But..

I'm always the girl with the plan.. how life will work out, what my plan for the next day or week is. Calendars are my friends, and I enjoy using them, seeing how everything will fit together. So, two things: Scheduling for this job sucks. It changes frequently which is irritating. Second, if I quit, then I have no plan. Nothing. I have some ideas, but there probably won't be a more permanent job until the next field season, sometime in between March and May. Not ideal.

If I'm going to give notice, I need to do it soon. Either now, so I'm done mid-December, or Dec 1 so that I'm done for Jan 1. That kind of gives me two weeks to find a plan. Except that no one is hiring. It's December. People hiring right now are looking for analysts.. and I am definitely not one of those. I'd love to have that skill set, but as of yet, no one will give me one. I potentially have some volunteer opportunities, and let's face it, I love having a bit of time to be alone and lazy. That could work out.. but.. there's always a but..

More books

Quick update of what I've been reading lately:

• Ex-Boyfriend's Handbook - Matt Dunn. Not really that exciting. Story of how a guy learns to get over his ex by trying to get her back. 

• The Saxon Shore - Jack Whyte. Book four of the Dream of Eagles Cycle. Still so, so good.

• Everything Bad is Good for You - Steve Johnson. I read this for our book club, and it was actually a book that I had wanted to read. I actually remember the introduction from when I attempted to read it the first time. (That's one of the main reasons I don't re-read books!). Giant essay about pop culture, and how gaming is not actually ruining our lives, but may, in fact be good for us. Woohoo.

• The Fort at River's Bend (The Sorcerer, book I) - Jack Whyte. Book five of the Dream of Eagles Cycle. I'm still happily reading them, so they must be good, right?

That's all for now! I think it's time to hit up the library so I can knock back a few not-so-interesting books before I head back up north.

The story of a pumpkin named Sonic

When I went home at Thanksgiving, Dad had bought us each a pumpkin. When I got home from my last work trip, R decided that we should carve a Sonic the Hedgehog pumpkin. Neither of us are really known for our artistic skills, but I was able to free-hand a fairly decent Sonic, based on something from the web (of course!).

R contemplating what to cut.. Tools for this project included a highlighter, several slotted screwdrivers and an exacto knife.

 End day one - Sonic is cut out.

Start day two - the necessary addition of the SEGA logo. We actually used a 'stencil' for this.. we tried free-handing the night before, but it didn't look very well, and then got washed off with the juice from the pumpkin.

Sega! All lit up .. notice the air holes in the back, too ;)

Finished product. We're both pretty impressed at how it turned out! :)

Books!

I got a bit bored updating every book with what Amazon says and stuff.. so, for the last few weeks, this is what I've read:

• My Stroke of Insight - Jill Bolte Taylor. About a neuroscientist who had a stroke. Interesting, but really, she should stick to science and not writing. Her "style" of writing left a lot to be desired.. at least from me.
  
• The Skystone - Jack Whyte. I'm not sure how I've never read Whyte's books before, but seriously, they are amazing. Thanks to Mom for lending them to me! This is the first of nine and they are well-written, long, and they definitely leave you wanting more.

• The Hound of the Baskervilles - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I enjoyed this because it was a full length novel instead of the short stories that I'd read previously.

• Innocence - Kathleen Tessaro. Another chick-lit. It was definitely not as good as the first one of Tessaro's books that I read, and I wouldn't bother to read another.

• The Glass Castle - Jeannette Walls. K lent this to me - gotta love friends that share books. She lent me three that I'd never heard of. I can't believe this book is true. That's basically all I can say. It was well-written as well.

• The Singing Sword - Jack Whyte. Book two. Still so good.

• Sarah's Key - Tatiana de Rosnay. This book was also from K. It was about France during the war. There's definitely some history here that I didn't know about. Well-written again. I really enjoyed the two different characters and how their stories were laced together.

• The Eagles' Brood - Jack Whyte. Book three.

• Room -Emma Donoghue. The last from K. This one took a bit to get into, but once I understood how it was being written, it was really good. 

Well, that's all for now. I think I'll stick to updates like this.. maybe a bit more frequently though.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

From Amazon: "This splendid collection of mysteries carries readers back to a gas-lit era, when literature's greatest detective team lived on Baker Street. A dozen of Holmes and Watson's best-known cases include "The Speckled Band," "The Red-Headed League," The Five Orange Pips," "The Copper Beeches," and "A Scandal in Bohemia."

Not a very exciting description.. This book was 12 short stories. I thought they might be a bit dull, but I really enjoyed them. They reminded me of Agatha Christie, but short, sweet and deceiving. I'm currently reading The Hound of the Baskervilles, which is a full length novel about these two characters. I'd recommend this book, because it was quick to read, but very well written.

The Debutante

The Debutante - Kathleen Tessaro

From Amazon: "A gifted artist, Cate has come to London from New York to escape her recent past. Working for her aunt's auction house, she is sent down to Devon to value the contents of Endsleigh House, the once gracious but now crumbling estate of a former socialite. There, hidden in the back of a dusty bookshelf, Cate discovers an old shoebox. Inside is a strange assortment of objects: an exquisite pair of dancing shoes circa 1930; a diamond brooch; a photograph of a young sailor; a dance card; and a pearl and emerald Tiffanys bracelet."

I really enjoyed this book. It was a pretty light read, but there was enough twists, turns and mystery to keep me reading. I'd recommend it to someone who just needed a fairly quick read.

The Art of Eating In

The Art of Eating In - How I learned to Stop Spending and Love the Stove - Cathy Erway

From Amazon: "Named one of Publishers Weekly's most exciting cookbook deals, Cathy Erway's timely memoir of quitting restaurants cold turkey speaks to a new era of conscientious eating. An underpaid, twentysomething executive assistant in New York City, she was struggling to make ends meet when she decided to embark on a Walden-esque retreat from the high-priced eateries that drained her wallet. "The Art of Eating In" reports on the delectable results of her twenty-four-month experiment, with thirty original recipes included. What began as a way to save money left Erway with a new appreciation for the simple pleasure of sharing a meal with friends at home, a trove of original recipes, and a greater awareness of take-out food waste and whether her ingredients were ethically grown. She also explored the antirestaurant underground of supper clubs and cook-offs, and immersed herself in an array of alternative eating lifestyles from freeganism to picking tasty greens in the park. "The Art of Eating In" is a personal journey that transforms the reader as it transformed the writer, about the joy of getting back in the kitchen and turning something seemingly ordinary into something completely extraordinary."

I really enjoyed reading about Cathy's foray into not eating out in New York. I actually cannot imagine eating out for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day.. or even just lunch and dinner every day! Her tales of various cooking experiments and contests were very interesting. I also enjoyed that her book had plenty (well, thirty, apparently) recipes. I wrote down a few of them to try before I returned the book.

I wish I could find more books about what I'm interested in for work (ie, plants). I seem to read a ton about food...