This morning, I drove into Toronto to work my shift at the ROM and it was such a lovely day, with the exception of my nosehairs freezing between the parking lot and the front entrance. There was an amazing bank of cloud hanging over Lake Ontario, with tendrils of cloud rising up. It must have been an effect of condensation, with fog rising off the water because the air was so much colder. Then all the water crystals just hung there, not really moving. It was like a great, white, fluffy escarpment. Ooooh, I love weather. Even when it's cold. Maybe especially when it is cold. So long as I'm dressed for it. The drive was really easy, the only traffic problems directly over city centre where some stalled cars were stuck in the right hand lanes. In fact, there were a number of stalled cars all the way down Avenue Road to the ROM. I think my final count was five, which made the traffic crawl. Brief entry. Nothing much to report.

Today I took no chances with the weather. I dug out my fuzzy hat, rather than my fedora or beer toque, bundled myself into my old, long wool coat, and quietly grumbled about still not having picked up my long scarf that I'd left at Nocturnalia. I'd go pick it up today, only it's so cold that I don't want to walk down to Queen and Spadina to pick it up. Of course, if I'm going to walk down to the Bus Terminal... We'll see. I might just balk and grab something to eat before taking the subway.

It's very quiet in the Membership office today. Almost everyone is at a meeting of some sort and the other two part-timers just left. There are only about three of us in here now. It's chilly, too. Just once, I would like the ROM to get the heating/cooling system right. We either freeze or bake, and it bears no relation to what it's like outside. The new system, or rather the updated system, we're now using in the office does not make things easier. In fact, it takes three times as long to enter a new member into the database than it did before. How is that more efficient? It is no surprise that in the time that we, the part-timers, were not upstairs that the whole office fell behind. Three times as long.

I don't know whether the kitten will still be at the appartment the next time I go back. She's been a pleasant addition to the household, even Tobe thinks so on occasion. It's terribly sweet how she curls up in bed and she lies in the sink (and still barely fills it). She's become kind of chatty, chirping and "merring" in her hoarse little voice. If she would stop trying to climb me instead of jumping, that would be an improvement, but even that is only slightly irritating. She's very gentle, though, which is good, not once swatting me with her claws extended. I do like kittens.

I ran into K----- of the campaign today at the Dufferin station. He's looking good. He's glad to be out of the basement where he used to work for the UofT Computer Store. It was a brief chat. He was between two meetings in the area and I was on my way to work. I'm glad things have worked out for him; he's one person that deserved getting a position after all the crap he was put through. Unfortunately, I feel kind of alienated from him because of all the shite that's gone on with me and the rest of the City Hall Crew. If I never speak to B----- again, so be it, I could care less. And as for He Who Shall Not Be Named, I left a message for him at the beginning of the week. Am I surprised that he hasn't returned the call? Not in the slightest. It's nice that he could afford to fly to Sudan but not to pay me. Anyway, this is a three-paycheque month for me, so that is a very good thing.

At some point, we have to take our Christmas tree down. Both the one at my place and the one at Mom's. I guess the one chez moi will have to wait a little while longer, since I'm not really around to deal with it. Mom and I will probably take ours down tomorrow. *sigh* There's no putting it off, the Epifany has passed, the Wise Men have brought their gifts... it's time to move on. So now we enter the lull of winter, when it's still dark for most of the day, without a break to keep us sane. The next long weekend is not until the 9th of April (Good Friday). There's no mid-term break for me, either, being out of school and all. Maybe we should bring back the Feast Days of old... The 20th is the Feast of Saint Sebastian (he'd be the one who got stuck with all the arrows). There was something to be said for Feast Days, you know? They don't even have to relate to Saints. Just Days of Feasting in General.

My God, is it ever cold out - I mean REALLY cold. Winter is here and it's made my toes numb. Tonight was one of those nights when I could have -really- used Scarlette, rather than wait half an hour in the frigid wind up at A&C's place for the bus. Actually, cold does not discribe what it is tonight. The windchill makes it -22C tonight, and that's a whole lot colder than the actual temperature of -12, which is pretty frigging cold. Now, I wouldn't be whiny about this, normally, because as most people who know me know that I like the winter, except I was not dressed for it tonight. I was dressed for it this afternoon, but by the time the full moon was over head, my sweater and jacket weren't cutting it.

I am so cold, that I cannot think of anything else to write about.

It's nice and also weird to be back upstairs in the Membership office. I enjoy the ordered chaos - it's hard to explain. Stuff happens up here, and there is usually some fundamental organisation to it, but sometimes it's really hard to see. Someone should be brought in to come up and make this office efficient, but then again, that might result in jobs being lost, so nevermind. Anyway, I'm up here doing office clerkish stuff because the office manager is away on holiday. I don't mind doing phones and whatnot, it's laid back and, generally, it's sort of pleasant to be able to solve problems.

There's a kitten staying at my appartment this week. Ruby was a gift to Stew's goddaughter for Christmas. While she and her family are on holiday somewhere in South America, the kitten is with us. Willi, who is in the Petes needs never know, while Tobe is somewhere between totally jealous and utterly fascinated. Ruby is pretty well behaved, though she tends to think I'm here in order to be climbed. Happily, when she does climb me, she weighs almost nothing so it's not a big deal. Tobe, on the other hand, who used me to escape Ruby's attention, weighs WAY too much to be clinging to my chest and neck. Big ow. Big. The kitten is very sweet, though, and she curls up under my chin in bed, purring like a little motor.

Anyway, I tried to post yesterday, but Blogger seemed to suffer an internal error and my post disappeared. So, I'll try again.

2004 was rung in nicely for me when on the second of January, my best friend, Tracy made the unsurprising announcement that she was officially engaged and I am to be her Maid of Honour. It's exciting, even if this has been a long time coming, and I told her that I'd be more than happy to help her organise things. There is a lot of time between now and Sept/Oct. of 2005 to get things done, but for the heck of it, I took her down to Nocturnalia to speak with Nicole to create a concept for her wedding clothing. For A&C's wedding we went to Heretic, but Nicole is the specialist in period-style clothing and that's what Tracy wants. Even better is that I might be able to wear my gown from A&C's wedding again - the colours are nearly the same. I shall discuss it. Also, I informed Tracy that I would be doing her invitations, no ifs, ands or buts about it. She was okay with that.

I went out to Peterborough on Saturday night, following my last day of working the Art Deco exhibition here at the ROM. The last two weeks had been a terrible zoo; everyone that hadn't come to see the exhibit in the previous three and a half months (and that was a lot of people) all came between the 26th of December and the 4th of January. I am more than happy to not have to deal with peevish members and people who ask the same questions over and over again. It was very nice to be able to go home and vegetate for a few days.

Speaking of going home, I am seriously contemplating going back to school this autumn. Not back to university, mind you, the higher degree will wait a while longer, but to Sir Sanford Fleming College in Peterborough for their museum studies programme. It is apparently the only one of its kind at the college level in Canada, and it's one of the best in North America. Or so I have heard. I've left a message for the director of the programme, a man my mother has met through her work for the Peterborough Symphony Orchestra. I think it would be useful to have a word with him about whether this is really something I should do. Regardless, I'm going to send in an application to the programme - I can always change my mind. September is a long way off yet and nothing is carved in stone.

I wonder who thought that carving in stone gave something permanancy. The Egyptians were masters at defacing and recarving stone surfaces and others have done the same for centuries.