Only one class and a couple of assignments left til glorious freedom... er...maybe not freedom but an official "research week" where I am freed from 4/5 of my classes and have the ability to get caught up on the masses of work piling up around me. It has been a very busy week, hence my woeful inadequacy in the blog update department!

This is the point in the semester that I lovingly label "group work hell". It doesn't matter how wonderful your group is (which all of mine are, of course;) but it's so busy and very, very difficult to get everyone's schedules to match up so that you can get the work done. But after the mega instructional strategies presentation that I just finished a couple of hours ago, followed by a mega follow-up group report on Friday, then I will officially be able to collapse and do a whole lotta nuttin'. Or somethin', just in a more minimal way.

I've been keeping busy in other ways, as well. Friday night I hosted a get together for the troops from library school who finished in the summer. Many war stories were traded in regard to the field of job searching. Most are still unemployed, but they are keeping their spirits up, God love them!

Saturday I went to Guelph for lunch with my mentor, who I was matched with through a program here at FIMS. My mentor is actually a librarian at UofG, who I suprisingly did not meet during my co-op placement. I don't think that I have ever met anyone who so genuinely loves their job, it was a really wonderful thing to see. She is an academic liaison librarian and had a really great concept of her role; viewing herself as an advocate for the students and faculty that she serves. Not an advocate for the library per se, but by focusing on her users she ends up improving and promoting the library at the same time. She has a fantastic attitude, and gave me lots of helpful hints. Today I see there is a job in Brandon, Manitoba that I may apply for. It requires much more experience than I think I have but I remember kind of liking Brandon when I was there a couple of years back. I think I stayed at the Quality Inn and went to the movie theatre there, before driving off to see more Nellie McClung related sites.

Saturday evening I attended a brief portion of my friend Rosanna's bachelorette party. I had the most bizarre salad at the Keg. It was a half a head of lettuce, not chopped up, just half a head as is, with ranch dressing poured over it and some croutons and bacon on top. It was up to me to use my steak knife to cut it apart. Maybe this is my rural simplicity talking, but I had no idea what the hell they were putting in front of me when it first arrived. I topped the salad off with a lovely drink and so enjoyed catching up with Rosanna, trading history department news, and info from around City Hall where she works as an assistant to one of the bigwigs there. Even though I don't see her too often, once again be reminded of what awesome people I have had the luck of meeting over the years.

Over the break I am hoping to apply to A TON of jobs, get caught up on work as much as possible, and maybe take a day or two to visit some folks around this part of the province. I had really hoped to go to Toronto to see a friend I worked with this summer, but I don't think it's going to work out with time constraints. You never know, though. If you have a day free for a visitor, or if you'd like to come my way - please do let me know! I feel like I've been a bit MIA this term which is another reason this blog has come in handy.

PS No links in this entry due to time constraints, but I hope you like it just the same!