Christmas presents for my workmates. The theory was I’d make something quick and easy that I could produce multiple of in slightly different designs so I wouldn’t have to think about it too much. Except that, as always, I forgot just how much time cross-stitch takes (about an hour per letter, in case you were…
o, not mine – that’s a couple of years off yet. But I did take part in the ceremony today. There’s a tradition that the general staff (i.e. non-academics) can volunteer to help out at graduation doing things like ushering parents to their seats, or helping the marshalls organise the students. Or, as I was…
nd of year party for Toastmasters tonight, with charades followed by one of those Secret Santa swaps where you get to steal gifts. All the gifts had to be home-made, so there was loads of imagination in them – some were crafted, some baked, and one was a gift certificate promising a couple of hours’…
Came home tonight to find a reindeer waiting for me on the doorstep. He was adorning a gift from my Bloggers Secret Santa partner, who hadn’t been able to make it to the party on Saturday because she was sick, so she got her husband to drop the parcel off today. Inside were two books…
ytteltonwitch came over today, and we went to investigate a charity shop she’d found that had the bookcrossing holy grail: three books for a dollar. They had a really good selection, too, so I ended up investing $10 in stocking up with potential themed releases (I was punished for such extravagance when the pile fell…
The Christchurch Bloggers Christmas party was tonight, which means I can finally show you the project I was working on when I attempted to cut my finger off: Such a simple little bag, you wouldn’t think it could have caused so much trouble, would you? The recipient was really pleased with it anyway, and with…
t was the neighbours. When I left the house this morning, the green bin was sitting out on the roadside, filled to the brim with branches from the tree I saw the neighbours cutting down at the weekend. As were all my other neighbours’ bins. They’d obviously run out of room in their own bin…
e’re trialling a new scheme at work to have volunteers come in and help out with the archive. I’m running the project (which is exciting and scary at the same time – it could turn into something really big if we do it right), so I’ve been casting around for a first volunteer to test…
he parade of end-of-year functions continues, with our team going out for lunch today. Yes, I know we already had a Christmas party last week, but this was our “official” Christmas function, with our boss shouting us lunch. It was a very nice lunch, in a new cafe that’s opened up recently near campus, and…
s most of you know, I really don’t do Facebook. But back during the earthquakes I set up an account in my real name for the sole purpose of communicating with students, because it was more reliable than our usual email channels. Once the crisis was over, I went back to ignoring it – until…