Holy crap it's been a long time since I've written! Well, much has happened. The weekend after I last wrote I was at a conference here at the marine station. It was fun, and I presented. People seemed to like my presentation, and I had some interesting conversations with people afterward. Spencer presented as well, and also did a great job, especially considering that they couldn't get his presentation running on the computer for five minutes, and he spoke without it. I liked the picture he drew on the board. That evening there was a birthday party at our house for Mike, and I had a good time hanging out with people there too.

The next day I drove to Victoria. I stayed in a hostel downtown that night, which was kindof fun. It had been a while since I went travelling on my own. It was somewhat the typical hostel experience, with a bunch of people in an old, noisy building. I had to sleep with earplugs. But, different from the normal hostel experience was that most of the rooms there were private, so I got a little room to myself, which was great (and only $31). Also, they had a little bar, and I got a pint of ale and a veggie burger for $4.75, which rocked. That was just what I needed.

The next day after that I did some very precisely-timed errands in town, including paying my parking meter when the time started at 9 am, a mocha and breakfast in a bistro (holy yum), and I got Spencer and myself life jackets at the outdoor store. We had ordered some in the mail that didn't fit very well. Then I went to the airport and picked up my mom!

Mom stayed all week, and we had a great time. We talked for about 3 days without stopping, we went to the beach, we did a bunch of cooking, etc. We went for a boatride one day, which was also fun. The weather was pretty nice while she was here as well, which was also pleasant. We also saw the Lady Rose come to town, and we attended the town Geography Bee. Sometime during that week I also started my new part-time job of town newspaper editor. They didn't give me very much time this time, but next time I'll be involved a little sooner in the process. I look forward to it.

I took Mom back to the airport on Saturday, and then I headed on a ferry over to the mainland, and went to Bellingham. I did some shopping at the Fred's, which I was pretty excited about. Not only was it familiar and had good stuff, but food prices are about 2/3 of what they are in Canada, so I got lots for about $80. I stayed the night in a hotel that was a gift from mom, and I was totally stoked to just sit in bed and watch stupid tv shows all night. I also did other fun things, like get take-out thai food from an awesome place next door that everyone in town was going to, and I talked to Melinda on the phone. I stayed up until almost midnight watching tv, which was awesome.

In the morning I got up, went to two more stores to try to find Dead Guy Ale (I was successful! Yay!), and then I drove up to Blaine. I went to a resort there where a seabird conference was being held, to meet my new boss! He bought me breakfast and we got to know each other a little bit (we had never met before, only spoken via email and over the phone), and then we did some work. It was a good meeting.

After the meeting I headed back to the border, and had a record time there. Including waiting and talking to the dudes, I was only there for 45 seconds! Then I went to the ferry. I met a friend from here who was returning from some time in the Arctic, and he rode with me on the ferry and back to town. I enjoyed his company very much.

So I'm back, and I started work on Monday. I've been very busy with that every day. Monday I worked in the library at the station for a while, which was great because of being out of the house and with the great view (the view from the webcam, link to the right). I also started another turn at feeding the kitties this week. I had a rough time the first two mornings, though, because these awful raccoons were there. They chased the kitties off (I even saw one hit one of the kitties) and tried to take the food. I stood guard, and swatted at them with a stick, but only a couple kitties would put up with all of that and eat close to my feet. I felt bad for the other kitties. I tried feeding in the afternoon yesterday, and that seemed to help. This morning I fed them later, and I guess the raccoons had gone to bed, which was good.

Tonight was also a milepost here, because I submitted my first paper for publication! I'm very excited about it, and glad to have it done. I hope it gets accepted. Spencer and I celebrated with a beer afterward. Yay.

I've posted a bunch of new photos, so check it out if you haven't lately.....

I should be able to write on a more regular basis now. I hope you're all well!