Attack from the North.

Blowing snow, accumulating snowdrifts, and a Weather Office issued windchill warning for Edmonton and the surrounding areas! Friends, help me share in this, my first -40C day.

This week(ish) in list form.

1. My student loan has yet to arrive, putting me 2 weeks behind on readings due to lacking funds for text purchasing.

2. Shawn got himself stranded post-mountain for a day and a half in Innisfail thanks to a crapped out alternator. Apparently, Innisfail is the asshole of the world. And apparently it costs about 7 bills to fix an alternator- not including a day and a half in a cracked-out, overpriced hotel.

3. My long-lost wife came to town, only to be swept away to the North to cook for scores of hungry rig men. I hadn't seen her in over two years, but as always it seemed that no time had passed at all. We ate the cupcakes featured below.

4. I knit a wee bit, transforming my goldentuque from decent to awesome. Brim and buttons! I wanted to start a new project, but alas, am down to leftovers in my yarn bag. Time for a refill, then extra-long cuffed mittens. And perhaps an attempt at Fair Isle, or double-sided argyle.

5. I developped a new chemical sensitivity, and it seems to be to anything petroleum based! Excitement! More allergies to make my life difficult! If anyone has suggestions for petroleum-free creams, let me know. My feets and hands crave moisture.

6. Several nightmares were had- all of which featured the loss of teeth, and melons, though in a completely unrelated way. Weird.

7. Lucky me! To receive a bunch of unexpected pretty gifties from Mrs. Vanstone!! Thank-you so much Sherry!

8. All of our beloved cacti were repotted- on the kitchen floor. The smell of fresh, clean dirt is delicious. While picking prickles out of my wrist in the days following, I made a list of all the vegetables and flowers I want to plant when we have a yard: bell peppers, hot peppers, carrots, garlic, mint, tea roses, zucchini, dhalias, cherry tomatoes, sunflowers, rhubarb, and a huge bed of peonies!

9. And in the same list-within-the-list vein, I am slowly compiling a list of things I have learned during my first Edmonton winter. I will not make the same mistakes next year. Most important lesson #1: Warm mittens, tights, scarves, socks, boots and tuques are far more important than an extra warm jacket. My extremities have suffered, while my core has overheated. Uncomfortable.

I ought to stop blaming the winter...

...it's really my love of making pretty sugar-laden sweets that has me expanding. I love my piping bag set soooo much! Forget environmental planning- I want to decorate cupcakes all day!

3 days in a row!

Sticking to the schedule, working for the wolf. My legs are surprisingly ache-free.

I've had to prop my front tire up on 3 phonebooks because my poor little hand-me-down velo is just not the right size for a tall lady like me. Since neither handles bars nor seat are adjustable- height-wise or angle-wise- it'll have to do.

I even made a play list to keep things pumping. It features some Rush.

I've been without coffee for about a week now (mostly due to the fact that I've also been without money- thanks for the prompt deposit, student loans.) but just realized I have a virgin Whorebuck's card that I could use toward beans. I'm not a huge fan of the 'buck, but the prospect of a hot cuppa tomorrow morning has me so excited I kind of wish it was Sunday already.

Hibernation ends.

I think I may actually have been in a kind of living coma over the holidays. Honestly, I'm not sure where they went. They were good, amd for the first time, we opened presents Xmas morning in our own house. It felt decidedly grown-up.

Nothing to rip you right back into the land of the living than term papers and essays- and lots of them! Suddenly I'm seeing direction in what I'm pursuing, not just knowledge for its own sake. Next year, I actually get to make my first foray into Environmental Planning. Neat! I've been looking extensively into transfer programs, or research opportunities in nearby Northern Latitudes. Not necessarily for this year or next year, more for my own information, in order to gauge what exactly is out there.

In other news, I've been trying diligently to stand by my training schedule for the distant spring. My first Edmonton winter has left me slightly squishier and wheezier than usual. Feel the burn, bitches.

I don't know what has been hanging over me lately. I thought last year was the year for change, but there's been something ominous about 2008 so far- not necessarily negative, just a hint of an impending....something....waiting to happen. Keep your ears to the ground, and your eyes on the streets, kids. Maybe it's already happening...