theatre

The last few days I have been trying to wrap up the ends of the course. There are still many ends to go but the showcase marks are ready to go in on Monday. I have still quite a bit of work to wrap up the course and really only 2 days to do it.

Next week on Wednesday is the teaching and learning showcase and Thursday is a day of celebration of the 125 of Engineering and Friday we have meetings with our summer students. The summer students start on May 1 but we don't get time with them until the 3rd. The marks are due in on the following Monday. So we'll see how Monday and Tuesday go- it will likely be a long week.

Thursday evening I went to see Anne-Marie in Oscar Wilde's "An Ideal Husband". It was a 2.5 hour show but riveting the whole way. It was very funny. The audience was mainly older people but it was a full house.

over

After 2 days of showcases and running around like a whirling dervish, the course is finally wrapping up.

Some photos of the showcases are here:

https://www.facebook.com/QueensEngineer/posts/2262786693782468?__tn__=H-R

https://www.facebook.com/QueensEngineer/posts/2262821380445666?__tn__=H-R

Then yesterday I was working on wrapping up all the loose ends and I met with a student who in Sept/Oct I wasn't sure if he was going to make it to the end of the year, but he did and he was totally transformed both in physical appearance and in confidence. And he made it very successfully through the year. A great story.

The robin was nesting on our back porch again but yesterday morning it looked like the nest had been roughed up. But they are rebuilding!

Tonight I am going to a potluck- I need to pick up a dessert- and then after we are going to see Anne-Marie in Oscar Wilde's "An ideal husband". She said it is a 3 hour extravaganza!

Good Friday

The week was very busy trying to get marks out and final year end. Yesterday, I went to Food Basics early about 11:30am and it was already very busy. In preparation for the closures on Friday and Sunday, I guess.
This morning Rustle had a service at 11am. There was not a very large attendance (compared to Sunday in general) and it was not a very long service but it was good. Josiah and Kara-Lee our interns led it so I'm glad it went well.
Sunday will be a big service as it is a baptism service as well as Easter. We were above the chair count last Sunday so we had to send the chidren down to Sunday School early. We are working toward running 2 services in the morning starting in August. But that won't help us on Sunday!
Tomorrow my students have their last written exam in the morning.
I need to go to Loblaws early and to the Dollar store first tomorrow but then need to go into work to prepare for the showcase on Monday and Tuesday.

Notre Dame

Yesterday Notre Dame burned. They had lots of precautions, they certainly knew of this possibility. A fireman on duty 24 hours. During renovations, risks are higher. Yet at the first alarm noone found the fire. It was not found until 23-24 minutes later. Who knows what that delay meant. But the determination to rebuild and the focus on that will hopefully hold them through. Sara wrote this that I thought was a good perspective:

Sara L. Uckelman
While what has happened to Notre Dame today has shocked me and moved me to tears more than once over the course of the evening, I'm finding that my background and training as a medievalist means I'm, overall, finding it a lot less devastating than many people.

Why?
Because I know how churches live. They are not static monuments to the past. They are built, they get burned, they are rebuilt, they are extended, they get ransacked, they get rebuilt, they collapse because they were not built well, they get rebuilt, they get extended, they get renovated, they get bombed, they get rebuilt. It is the continuous presence, not the original structure, that matters.
The spire that fell, that beautiful iconic spire? Not even 200 years old. A new spire can be built, the next stage in the evolution of the cathedral.
The rose windows? Reproductions of the originals. We can reproduce them again.
Notre Dame is one of the best documented cathedrals in the world. We have the knowledge we need to rebuild it.
But more than that: We have the skill. There may not be as many ecclesiastical stone masons nowadays as there were in the height of the Middle Ages, but there are still plenty, and I bet masons from all over Europe, if not further, will be standing ready to contribute to rebuilding. Same with glaziers, carpenters, etc.
Precious artworks and relics may have been lost. There is report of one fireman seriously injured, but so far, from what I've read, no one else, and no deaths.
This isn't the first time Notre Dame has burned. I'm dead certain it won't be the last.

spring-ish

Yesterday I worked about 12 hours and walked home and it was a beautiful evening.

Today there was still a bit of a chill but it was nice enough to hang laundry and clean windows.

With exams going on, emails from students have been reduced but the ones that come in typically are more challenging to take care of.

One more week until the showcase and then things will be wrapping up.

Last night there was a suspicious car fire a block away but I am not sure what happened.

plugged

So on top of having no voice, 1 (one) of my nostrils is plugged up and it reaches to my ear. Ya, I'm falling apart.

Also the gutter on the garage is plugged and I can't get the ladder to the side to unplug it until the ice melts. Otherwise it is too dangerous to unplug.

Off to work with lozenges in hopes that will help.

beef in the instant pot

This morning a bunny was back!
My voice is still missing though.
Yesterday, I branched out from chicken and decided to try a beef roast in the IP. I cooked it the same way that I did the chicken but it required a lot more time. About 50 minutes cooking and 30 minutes resting. Made a perfect roast!
The instant pot works very well as long as you don't rush it. Despite the name, I don't think that the time it takes is less, but there is less effort and it does cook things well!
There was one evening where we were in a rush to get somewhere and the chicken hadn't finished and I had to re-instant pot it, but it turned out ok in the end.

lost and found

lost: my voice
lost: James' team at the tournament
lost: bunnies
found: some leaves of tulips, some life in the garden

A cold wind

A cold wind blew in during the day today.

I was very sore from all the cleaning yesterday. I clearly don't clean enough on a regular basis. I didn't think that I was doing anything so strenuous!

We had our last TA training session tonight. I worked until 8pm and then came home and watched survivor. I am liking this survivor series.

fox

A few days ago, I saw a fox cross Princess St.. He waited for a break in traffic and then bolted across the street. I have not seen the bunnies around for a while. Hopefully, they skipped town.

Today Carolyn, Karen and I cleaned the apartment above rustle as the tenant just moved out. There was lots of cat hair and cat smell. It was in better shape after a morning of cleaning. I did some shopping and some cleaning at home. Only a few days left of term.