We had ample time to get there, and in fact, managed to stop for lunch in Bouctouche [2]; unfortunately, we didn’t have time to stop in Shediac and have our pictures taken at the giant lobster. It also didn’t help that the exit for the airport is not well-marked and ended up doubling back.

After that, my cousin and I went on our merry way, stopping for really, really good ice cream in the middle of nowhere [3]. When the proprietor found out I was from North Bay, he gave me a reproduction of an advertisement featuring the Dionne Quints. Because we weren’t hungry when we got back to Saint John, we stopped at the video store and rented season 1 of Rome, which we stayed up watching until 5am.

My last official day in the Maritimes got off to a very late start, and we ended up going back downtown to hit a couple of used book stores. I haven’t mentioned in my recap how desperately close I came to running out of reading material – usually, I have too much but this time I had far, far too little. I did find a couple of things to throw in my purse, and managed to offload a few of the books I’d picked up in used bookstores in Halifax. Went home, had dinner, watched a documentary about crossword puzzles, and called it a night.

The next morning, for the last time, I threw all my stuff into my suitcase, and what wouldn’t fit into the suitcase went into a cloth bag I’d brought for that very purpose. I got dropped off at the airport, flew to Toronto, and then flew back to North Bay.

And thus ended my vacation. That, and coming home to find my neighbour’s tree had fallen into my backyard. There’s no place like home, right?

[1] Because by this point in the narrative, we’re up to the first weekend in August, which is a long weekend.
[2] Although not at Le Pays de la Sagouine because their restaurant was closed.
[3] I have the postcard from the place, but it’s upstairs and I’m too lazy to go get it.

Anyways, day 9 was Friday. After spending the morning marveling over The Neph’s new tricks (sign language! walking! high fiving! peek-a-boo! reading, sort of!) we went to the beach. Ah, the beach. We didn’t stay for long because a certain short person (The Neph) was getting hungry. So we cut the visit short and vowed to go back later. Little did I know that would be the only time I’d make it there.

Otherwise, it was a low key day. It started raining and being miserable in the afternoon, so no more beach for us. At some point, my sisters pulled out Settlers of Catan (they’d each brought a game, plus Seafarers of Catan) and we started playing. Later, we called my cousin to come over and play, then more cousins, aunts and uncles dropped by, and we ended up teaching them how to play.

Saturday, day 10, dawned windy and overcast, and eventually rainy. It was the day of the big Larocque family reunion, where we were supposed to be competing on family teams. My sister had the bright idea to get us all matching t-shirts, and because we’re who we are, they all had skull and crossbones on the front and our crew position on the back [1]. Due to the rain, the games got cancelled which didn’t make me overly sad because it meant more time to visit with everyone I hadn’t seen in more than 7 years.

Sunday was all about being anti-social, the napping, and generally laying low. The rain continued to fall, the wind picked up significantly, and venturing outside was to risk immediate soaking. So, more Settlers, and early bedtime.

[1] My dad was Captain JC, my mom was First Mate, The Neph was Cabin Boy, and the rest of us were Crew.

Finally arrived in SJ, and was met by my cousin. We ditched my stuff in his car, and proceeded to walk all over the city [2]. Included in our walk was a stop at a used book store that also sold coins and post cards, and I found a bunch of North Bay and Dionne Quintuplet cards. I bought them for my boss, who’s got an impressive collection of North Bay post cards, and because my library has an impressive collection of Dionne Quintuplet memorabilia.

The next day, my cousin and I headed out to the Carleton Martello Tower and the Saint John Museum. The tower was lovely, but the museum felt like it had been put together by several different groups, and no one talked to anyone else while they put things together. There was no continuity, and no attempt to standardize how things were labeled.

Day 8 (Thursday) dawned cool and rainy. My attempt to hang clothes on the line was laughed at. Eventually, the laundry was done, last minute groceries were acquired, and we left for Moncton to pick up my sister at the airport. A few hours later, we were in the Fatherland, Lameque, having dinner with my aunt and cousin and her husband. Much merriment ensued, and then my sister and I went to our final stop at my grandmother’s, where we were staying along with my parents and other sister, b-i-l, and The Neph.

[1] My iTouch.
[2] An exaggeration, to be certain, but it felt like it.

Rain, rain, rain. Saturday had been damp and foggy in the morning, but today it was flat out raining. Hustled out to breakfast between the raindrops, and then picked up my rental car for a side trip to Wolfville. Why Wolfville? Well, why not?

Missed the turnoff, so doubled back. By now it wasn’t raining and the sun was coming out – all the better to see the beautiful rolling hills and that the tide was low.

It didn’t take as long as I expected to get there, and the first place I passed on my way into town was one of the reasons I’d come here: Just Us Coffee Roasters. I drank what was possibly the best iced latte in the world (strong and slightly salty) and learned all about fair trade coffee in their museum. Bought six pounds of coffee and hot chocolate, and only wondered how I was going to get this home once I’d left.

Eventually found the library, which was closed. But the public computer room was open, AND they had free wireless. Score! Looked up directions to Gaspereau Valley Fibres and set out to find it. After almost three quarters of an hour of getting lost and doubling back on country roads, I found it. Only to discover it’s closed on Mondays. Hungry and grumpy, I made it back to town and had lunch at the Library Pub.

There are several wineries in the area, and I couldn’t leave without visiting one. In the end, I wasn’t able to leave without three bottles of wine (to add to my concerns about how I was getting this home.) One was a red, one was a white, and the third was a dessert wine made with apples grown in local orchards.

The trip back to town was uneventful. The tide was out, and there were gorgeous acres of rich red mud. I wanted to wallow in it for a few hours.

Pulled myself back together and went back to Halifax, where I found a message from a friend about a library school alumni meeting, and would I be interested in attending? Well, since it meant taking the ferry across the harbour, which was one of the only things I hadn’t been able to do, it wasn’t a hard decision to make.

Called it a night, finished packing, and ran down to the Starbucks (which used to be a bank) and got something to eat in the morning, since it was going to be an early start.

Later, I went and hung around the library until the Pride Parade started. Much fun and merriment ensued – lots of families of all shapes and sizes. From what I heard, this was the first time the Pride Parade followed the same route as all the other major parades.

Afterwards, my cousin came to pick me and my aunt up to go out to their place on the lake. It’s a great house on a lovely piece of real estate. My cousins, who were still just little last time I saw them, are either starting high school or graduating from it.

Sunday was low key, spent wandering around the public gardens then watching my cousin’s soccer game. His team was in second place, and they were playing the first place team. It ended in a tie, but it was a close thing.

For dinner, I went to the Fireside, the martini bar and restaurant we used to gravitate to in grad school, if we weren’t cluttering up the Grad House.

Went to a Vietnamese restaurant for lunch and ran into an old friend. We spent lunch chatting and it was great to get caught up.

On my way back from my wandering, visited the craft show that was being set up. There were spinners and weavers doing a demo, and I learned how to use a drop spindle. Awesome!

Went to a nice place for dinner, expecting to eat on the patio, but it started to pour rain, so had to go inside with everyone else expecting to eat outdoors.

Watched a couple of French video podcasts and went to bed.

Tuesday:
Up at 4:30am to catch the bus to TO. Normally, I’d take the train, but the train doesn’t get there until 7pm, IF it runs on time. Getting up at an ungodly hour to take the bus means I get into the city by early afternoon, leaving me enough time to do some sightseeing and shopping. Which I did – I walked up Spadina to Queen West, and hit Americo Yarns. Then I wandered into Kensington Market, went to Lettuce Knit for yarn and help [1]. I also found a cool artist’s market, and bought a print for in my living room [3]. Caught the subway back to the hotel, ditched my purchases, and set off to Jorge’s. I finally got to meet Mrs. Jorge and Olivia, both of whom are adorable. Quite possibly the funniest line of the evening was when Jorge described Olivia’s reaction to the vacuum cleaner: “She went all Leonidas on it.”

Wednesday:
An all-day pre-conference session. More people than had signed up were there, so we were pretty packed in. There were a few people I knew from other meetings, Facebook (Hi Joanna!), or through other friends (Hey Debra!) Met some new friends for drinks and dessert, and then hit the opening reception to find Karen and Steve [4]. Also ran into a couple of librarians from up this way (Hi Leslie, Shelly and Rebecca!) and Jennifer, who was making the big move to Montreal and wouldn’t be convening my session [5].

Thursday:
First official day of the conference! We [6] started it by heading out to our traditional conference breakfast spot for our traditional conference breakfast, which consists of waffles/crepes with fruit and chocolate and/or whipped cream. Delightful! Then onto the first session of the day, which was about getting and using user feedback. Then onto the session I was convening on open source software in the developing world, and a stint in the AskOn booth after that [7]. Finally, I met up with a bunch of other librarians to go see a taping of The Hour. I could spend a great deal of time talking about how cool it was; instead, I’ll give you these pics:

Friday:
Seriously, it’s kind of a blur, it was that busy. However, I do remember the most important part of the day – going out for dinner! The same group of usual suspects went to the Mexican restaurant Karen, Steve and I found last year. We were worried that it wouldn’t be as good as we remembered, but that fear was completely unfounded – not only was the food as spectacular as we remembered, this year they had a mariachi band! Afterwards we hit the Indigo flagship store, then headed home.

Saturday:
Checkout! Fortunately, I do it early enough to avoid the crush. Then off to a session, and then to my presentation. There’s not much to tell about it, at least not much that wouldn’t bore most people to tears at this point [8]. Except to say that it went well, and I didn’t make any egregious mistakes. Walked down to meet my mom and sister for lunch, and then headed back home with them – hell, I’d come that far, I might as well take a day or two to visit the folks. Had a great supper, and polished off many bottles of wine with my sister and cousin while playing Settlers of Catan, at least until I started falling asleep at the table and my b-i-l took over for me.

Sunday:
A big family outing to celebrate my dad’s birthday and retirement. The neph was adorable, and flirted with all the waitresses. Then home for more Settlers of Catan, and sitting around watching some football game. Are they still playing at this time of year?

Monday:
Home again, this time by train. Again, slept most of the way.

So, there you have it – my week down in the T-dot. It was fun, and I’m already looking forward to next year.

[1] I started knitting a sock on the bus when I wasn’t sleeping [2]. At some point, a whole lot of stitches fell off the needle and started unraveling. The kind and friendly woman there picked them back up and put them on the needle for me.
[2] Which was most of the time.
[3] Once I get a frame for it.
[4] Or as I started calling them, The Nickel City Posse.
[5] Yeah – I was also presenting at the conference. More on that later.
[6] By “we”, I mean Karen, Steve, Joanne (from TBay) and her sister Cathy who’s also a librarian.
[7] I’m one of the friendly AskOn operators, by the way.
[8] Maybe some other day.

~ Last Thursday was the only day of the year where you could legitimately say, “Go Rebecca! It’s your birthday! We’re going to party like it’s your birthday!” and have it be accurate. For those of you keeping score at home, it’s the 31st time this has happened.

~ Most of the time I experiment with cooking, it turns out okay. Occasionally, it turns out badly. And on rare, shining occasions, it turns out better than expected, which was the case with the spinach sauce I made to go on some leftover penne noodles at the beginning of the month.

It’s a carton of baby spinach, tossed into the food processor and chopped until it’s all shredded into tiny little pieces. Then you make a white sauce (two tablespoons butter, two tablespoons flour, one cup of milk; melt the butter, stir in the flour until smooth, and then slowly add the milk in parts) and dump in the spinach. Pour on cooked noodles, stir, and serve. Tasty! And a pretty colour!

~ I’ve been experimenting with knitting multiple projects at the same time. Normally, it’s all I can do to finish one project, yet I’m finding I like having several things on the needles, so I can switch projects when I get bored. One of my recently completed projects is a tea cozy for my little teapot.

My teapot – it is both short and stout. And now it has a sweater!

~ This past weekend was my sister and b-i-l’s annual ball hockey tournament. At first, it looked like this would be the first year the weather wouldn’t co-operate and we’d have to play in the rain. In the end, we played in the mist [1] and the mud, and no one got injured. Also, a good time was had by all. My photos are here.

~ Had I more time, I’d post the playlist I listened to on the drive from here to Guelph and back. It’s dope, yo.

[1] Isn’t that a Sigourney Weaver movie – “Ball Hockey Players in the Mist”?

The other seasonally appropriate occurance was the considerable snowfall we had between my leaving Tuesday and my arriving home last night, which was somewhere in the neighbourhood of two or more feet. I had to dig my poor little car out of a considerable snowbank when I got back to the train/bus station. And this was on top of the snow we already had.

So! The conference! I’m sure you’re waiting with baited breath to hear how it went, since I was not so much writing about it while I was there. I’d have to say that this was one of the better OLA conferences I’ve been to in recent years. I went to many excellent sessions, and only walked out of one which was largely irrelevant to my interestes (in addition to being not at all what I hoped it would be.) If I were to list all the people I met and want to extend greetings to, I’d be here until tomorrow – suffice to say, if we talked, I’d just like to say “HI!” and I look forward to emailing/speaking/meeting with you over the next little while.

The biggest problem with these conferences is that I always come away with a million ideas which I’d like to implement (A wiki for the employee manual? Sure! A blog for my department to publicize our recent aquisitions? Very necessary! Genealogy podcasting? Why aren’t we already doing that!) However, I feel like Cinderella – I can work on a plan for these things, but only when I’ve finished the library stats for this month, and the January vacation/overtime logs for the department, and writing the scripts for the virtual library project, and the other hundered or so things that crop up on a daily basis.

I love my job, and the administrivia is just part of the job. I just need to manage my time better. And be more organized.

* * *

The night before I left, I downloaded some iTunes-y goodness to listen to while on the train. Regina Spektor’s “Begin to Hope” got heavy airplay – most noteably, “Fidelity,” “Samson,” and “20 Years of Snow.” And I’m sort of embarrased to admit how many times in a row I listed to Mika’s “Grace Kelly” – it’s just that perky and infectious and fun.

I forgot to mention I met Jen Wednesday night – I don’t think I totally freaked her out, but she did give me a deserved “And you are…?” look at first. Sorry about that. And today Jorge and I met for coffee, and had a lovely chat. Next time, I promise I’ll give you more warning and we’ll hit the pub.

There were other things, but it’s late-ish, I’m tired, and I have to pack. I’ll post tomorrow or later this weekend. How’s that for being vague?