Science and Working and Dogs, oh my! I've been very busy over the last few days. It's been a refreshing change. The Science Fair on Friday was fun, as always. I love feeling like I'm giving those kids some good feedback, helping them decide what they're interested in and what they'd like to do with their lives. Although, the second round of judging wasn't fun at all and I don't think I'll do it again. I don't think I like picking and choosing betwee projects to decide who gets what award and how much money. There was too much arguing and discussion and not enough time spent talking to the kids and finding out how much they learned. One of my favourite questions is "have you thought of a project for next year?". It's not really relevant to the judging, but I think it's important that they think about it early, it's good for their brains. We had a birthday party for my dad on Saturday. Everyone came, it was lots of fun. My sister brought the flower girl dress for our cousin to try on. It fits her perfectly and she's so cute in it! Parties with my family are generally loud and boisterous. I never notice how tired it makes me until the last person leaves and the house is perfectly quiet for a minute. It's like turning off the car after a long trip and the noises you don't concsiously notice all stop at once and all you can hear is the silence. On Sunday I was having a terribly blah day. The kind of day where everything you do seems completely pointless and you start to question why people even bother getting up and going to work when none of it really matters. I was feeling especially morose about school. People are always telling you to live in the moment, enjoy the ride, etc. And still, as you get to the end of a degree, everything you do is geared to "the next step". You're always looking into the future, getting ready to start something that is equally destination driven. How can we be expected to live in the moment when the majority of our time is spent doing things to reach some goal. A degree, a raise, a promotion, retirement. Gah, it all seemed so bleak. But, I'm feeling much better today. Life is friendly again, things are interesting. There's only a month and a half left of school and then it'll be summer, with things to do and places to explore. I'm hoping to get a couple of overnight hikes in. I've never done that and I think it would be cool to test my limits a little. I'm also hoping to do a canoe trip with a bunch of people. The more the merrier, I say. We'd do the Red Deer river I think. It's fast enough that we don't have to paddle too much and not so fast we'd risk falling overboard. I love planning for the summer, and I'm not looking forward to having to work full time all year. Even though I work 40 hours during the summer while I go to school, it's still a change of pace and it'll only last four months. I'd really like to be able to have some sort of job that allows for field work. Go away for a few weeks, stop having to go to an office and sit in front of a computer for eight hours a day, get soem fresh air and hopefully a little sunshine. Sounds nice to me. But I think I'll have a ways to go before I can dictate my terms like that. I'm thinking I'll have to start doing grunt GIS work, assuming I get a job in my field. The dog is sleeping underneath the computer desk. Ever since I've started having more time at home, she's fallen into a pattern of going everywhere I go and settling in until I move to the next place. It's cute, I like it. Often, when I get home after class around 11 we'll have a nap in the sunshine. She loves that and she's often in place before I'm even comfortable. The best position is me laying on my back with my knees bent and propped against the back of the couch. Then she sleeps on my chest. I like it, I'll miss it when I don't live at home anymore. Maybe I'll just never move away. |