This is going to be my last post for a little while as I'm heading to the Petes tonight and tomorrow, Mom and I will be heading to the cottage. I'm pretty excited about going; autumn is a good time up there. I can already smell the wood smoke and hear the rustle of drying leaves. The colours probably won't be terribly vibrant as they are practically nonexistant here in the city. It's just been such a lousy fall for colour. At least it's gotten cooler, though they're calling for temperatures in the low 20s later this week. Yeesh.

There's a union party at the Bedford Academy this evening, so I'm going for a bit. We'll be celebrating our new union executives and the achievement of two decent contracts. Rick will meet me here at the museum and we'll walk over. There will be finger foods and one free drink, which I'll let Rick have, and then, after I congratulate Ceceil on being re-elected as the president, I'm going to head home to pack. Derek is coming over, too, in order to pick up keys and to see how to feed Willi while Nick and I are absent. I think Willi'll be in good hands with him. He's a good egg.

I've handed over my work on the ICC page to Brett, the ROM's amazingly patient and pleasant webmaster. We made a couple more changes to it today, sitting in his office. All in all, it's not been a terribly arduous project, and I've enjoyed it quite a bit. I learned new things, and offered good suggestions, some of which were implemented, and I think it's ben a really good experience. I hope to be doing more of such work for the ROM in the future. Go me !

Anyway, back to work I go. I have plenty of stuff here that needs doing before I take off. I hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving long-weekend. See you when I get back !

After a discussion with my mother about names I do and do not like, I have to add a few to my list of liked names: Maya (Mom got offended that I hadn't put it on, and yes, I LOVE my name), Ira, Ruth, Judas, Rachel, Matthew, James (not Jim), Solomon, and Avrum. Heavy on the Judeo-Christian names, eh? I'll also add Sebastian (and its variants), Una, Wim, and Joan. Now, as a disclaimer: If you don't see your name, I might not have thought of it, or while I might like it, it might not have quite made the list. The list is by no means complete, nor is it meant to offend. At the very least, these lists have stimulated a good amount of conversation.

I did not find Velkyn's character sheet. I suspect it is truly lost. Despite my promise not to play if I could not find it, I did end up going to Al and Carrie's afterall. I brought my wax beans and added them to the D&D dinner, and then was informed that I was to be playing afterall, because they weren't done. Okay then. I hadn't brought even my temporary sheet. Nuts. Good thing I carry dice in my purse. Shut up, you knew I was a geek.

Unfortunately, I felt the beginnings of a headache on my way over, and by the time I was eating, I knew it was a migraine. Not wanting to poop out, I took some tylenol, bringing the pain to a more tolerable, though still clinging, level, and went on with the game. My fun level was a lot lower than usual because of the pain, and when I returned to my home I washed my face and went to bed.

This morning, I felt much better; sensitive in the eyes, but altogether functional. It's a wonderful autumn day, cool, crisp, windy, with bright sunshine and a real smell of October in the air. I am wearing my velvet blazer for the first time since last winter and though smelling a bit musty, it's nice to be clothed in the old favourites again. Tonight, I'll get my work done with the ICC thing and tomorrow I'll be able to take it to the ROM's webmaster for preliminary hosting. I can't get it to look good in netscape, despite using the existing template, but IT can do something about that.

Now I'm pretty much counting down the days until I'll be at my cottage. Mom and I will be there for Thanksgiving. We haven't done that in a long time. We're going up on Thursday and we're coming back on the Tuesday, so it will be a nice long weekend. I love the cottage in the fall. I love the cottage all the time, really, but in the fall it's just so autumnally wonderful. Except for the extremely cold seat in the outhouse, anyway. :O

Willi will stay in Toronto. This will be a bit stressful for her, I know, because she's so attached to me, and with Nick doing family things for part of it, it will be even worse. Derek will be looking after things while I'm gone, so I know she'll be okay. Mom will be bringing Melody, though, leaving Chester at her house, because Melody is old and gets daily medication that we don't trust others to give. We'd just bring them all if we could, but it's hunting season and we don't really want them to be shot. It will be pretty difficult to keep them in, so it's best if we do not bring them at all. I suggested we could get them little jackets in hunter orange, but Mom did not share my enthusiasm. *laugh* Oh well.